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judy smith Jun 2015
Fashion, fun and entertainment will feature on August 1 when Hospice West Auckland and national business networking organisation BNI New Zealand partner to present the Absolutely Fabulous Fashion Show, proudly supported by major sponsor Douglas Pharmaceuticals.

Returning due to popular demand, the outrageous fashion fundraising event features upcycled outfits sourced from donations to West Auckland Hospice Shops. Included in the evening is a ‘Designer Clothes Sale’ featuring garments seen on the catwalk, which will be available to purchase on the night. Modelling the clothes will be celebrities, prominent Aucklanders, Hospice staff and professional models.

Award winning ‘Comedienne of the Decade’ and celebrity host for the evening Michele A’Court was delighted to be asked to MC the event. “It just sounds like tremendous fun and I am a sucker for Hospice fundraisers, so I jumped at the chance to be involved. Also, I am a massive fan of op shops, so how could I resist?”

CEO of Hospice West Auckland, Barbara Williams said, “We know the audience is in for a very special night for a great cause, with lots of laughs. We also want to showcase the fabulous range of designer clothing that donors so generously give us, and to highlight the quality of garments available from our Hospice Shops. Op shopping is good for your wallet, the planet and your community and we are keen to show that it can also be brilliant for your wardrobe.”

Barbara is delighted to welcome Douglas Pharmaceuticals as the major sponsor this event. “Douglas is a key supporter of Hospice West Auckland and Founder Sir Graeme Douglas has been our Patron since 1996. We are thrilled to have Jeff Douglas, Managing Director, continuing their support and appreciate his commitment to this event.”

Barbara acknowledges the support of long-time partner BNI NZ as a major asset for the event. “BNI’s networking groups up and down the country have supported Hospice for many years and raised over a million dollars for Hospice nationally.”

“Our long standing relationships with Douglas and BNI NZ and are very important to us, not only financially but also in terms of engaging with the communities their businesses operate in.”

Graham Southwell, National Director of BNI NZ, says BNI has a strong presence in West Auckland with a lot of local businesses participating in its networking groups. “Hospice West Auckland approached us because they know that we have active local business members in the community that could provide resources and help make this event even bigger and better this year,” Graham says. “It’s exciting to work with Hospice and use our expertise in BNI to help collaboratively put on the event. At BNI we are all about creating strong relationships in the community and Hospice have come to us because of our network and assistance with logistics as well as getting the word out about this fabulous event.”

Guests will be able to purchase some fabulous fashion, bid on a range of exciting auction items as well as enjoy wine, canapés and live music. All proceeds from the event will go to Hospice West Auckland, who provides free palliative care and support to patients and families living with terminal and life-limiting illness.Read more here:www.marieaustralia.com/long-formal-dresses | www.marieaustralia.com/formal-dresses-2015
judy smith Nov 2015
WHEN Grace Gray uncovered her wedding dress from the back of the wardrobe, she knew exactly what to do with her something old – turn it into something new.

The doting gran gifted her much-loved satin gown to her daughter Michelle, so she could have it made into a christening robe for her baby Pippa.

And the beautiful wee girl was all smiles on her special day in her hand-me-down, upcycled gown.

Michelle, 32, said: “I always loved my mum’s wedding dress and never imagined it would become my daughter’s christening dress, but I’m so glad it did.

“For Pippa to be christened in such a special family dress made the day all the more amazing.”

Grace, 54, wore the pearl-encrusted ivory dress when she married husband William, 73, in Clydebank 18 years ago.

Michelle helped her mum to pick the dress and was a bridesmaid at the wedding.

She said: “I was quite young when my mum married my stepdad and I remember going shopping with her when she picked the dress.

“It had lots of pearls and diamantes and I just loved all the sparkle. She looked so beautiful.”

After her wedding, Grace packed away her dress in a box and kept it at the back of her wardrobe.

Michelle, who is looking forward to her own wedding to partner Frazer Ward, 29, next year, said: “It has been there ever since but she came across it when she was clearing out.

“It was her idea to have it turned into a christening dress for Pippa.”

The family took the dress to Fabricated Bridal Alterations in Glasgow, where the seamstresses made not only the christening dress but a head band for Pippa and a matching hair clip for her sister Tilly, four.

Michelle, who also lives in Clydebank, added: “I did feel a little bit anxious at the thought of mum’s

dress being cut up but the end result was so beautiful.

“Mum had a tear in her eye when she saw it.”

Grace said: “I can’t think of any better use of my wedding dress than seeing it given to my

granddaughter for her christening.

“I felt really honoured to share in her big day in such a special way. I was overwhelmed by how beautiful she looked.”

Andrina Greig, of Fabricated Bridal Alterations, said there was a rising trend for women to put their wedding dresses to good use.

She added: “We’ve had more and more women getting their wedding dresses made into a christening gown for their children – but this is the first time we have had a grandmother’s dress brought in to be made into a christening gown.

“Michelle’s mum’s dress was perfect for the transformation.

“It was in great condition and the beading, bow and button details were ideal for scaling down and keeping as a feature on the christening dress. We were thrilled with how beautiful Pippa’s gown looked.”

read more:www.marieaustralia.com/formal-dresses-adelaide

www.marieaustralia.com/red-carpet-celebrity-dresses
I hear they opened
a **** recycling facility

right next door
to the ***** store

apparently
**** can be reprocessed
manufactured and molded
into most durable caliber
of ***** ever

***** that bend
but never snap

***** that pull
but don't shove back

***** that give
for evermore

rapping
(articulately, symmetrically)
across adjacent chamber doors
flung off rust hinges
obliterated ornamental remnants
upon electric yellow sidewalk
chalked with stardust parallels
thresheld holding, walked over
most excellent righteous ride
corset finger writhe
on Other side

(evidently ******* is most valuable
as it’s so transparent and malleable)
T R S Jul 2019
I've coughed up ***** of pill soaked cotton,
every morning.
Everynight it's like there should be shows on tv showing how rough life is.
But it's not,
it's a business that's built a cathedral
and stitched ups sides of all the folks that were lied to.
In order to stay true
to nihilism and anarchy
it occured to me
that the final way to stay in my lane is my sitting my ***
in hot sad littered with lizards and all the water in my upcycled big gulp cup.
It *****.
And I'm scared.
Because they took my stray away, and with out lids, it the woods,
i can't keep the ice to stay cold in my drink.

It's the first inkling of poor people killing for schillings of basic disposal needs,
but the rich folks greed will instill into us
landfill thinking.

Like we're supposed to be sinking on the ship we were shanghaied on.
Jules Harper Aug 2022
my heart always rumbled any
And every time the clock turned 20:12
The fear of dying,
The thought of everything
Ending for good one day,
Kept 11 year old me up at night

But the older i get,
The wider i see the world,
The more i want Everything to be done

16 year old me always fantasized how
The world would end, how
Cool and calm it would be, how
Tranquility would feel like.

21 year old me was hit with a realization
It was never going to be such things as
The end of the world
Only the end of humanity
And it was never going to be
An easy phenomenon to get pass as
Those big waves flushing us down
Killing us in one breath and
After that we feel nothing more
No pain, nothing remain as
Depicted in those disaster films

Death will never be easy
And the end of humanity will
Never not come with
The drained, the drought
The famine, the fouls
The illnesses that slowly **** us
And the climate changes that slowly torture us

Some years i wish that my doing is enough—
i thought my doing was enough.  
Until i learned that no matter how
Many plastic bags i reused,  
Plastic bottles i recycled,  
Plastic straws i refused,  
And the old clothes i upcycled,
It will never be enough.

Some months i wish the humanity could end for good,
For the sake of the Mother
Whose breath lets us breathe
Whose blood lets us bathe
And whose babies lets us banquet.

Some days, i wish to my dear universe
For Everyone to see
That we are only leading towards the end
Passing the pathways filled
With nor petals nor thorns
But starvation and sickness
With no salvation nor sanity
Just sorrow and sadness
And none can be avoided when
No one seems to see how
Much a disaster we’re about to be in
And no one seems to care how
Sad the tragedy we’re about to be living

Some hours i close my eyes
And listen to the sounds of  
The symphony my Mother loves to play
With the mix of
Wind blowing,  
Birds chirping,  
Stream flowing,  
Sun ray beaming,
White clouds floating,
Thunderstorm forming,
Rain drops showering,
Frogs harmonizing,
Rainbow shining,
And bees buzzing.

Some minutes i cannot wait to be the part of all beauty
And embrace myself the way i embrace nature
But be reminded of how people would treat me
From the way they treated nature,
i can only second guess my judgment.

Some seconds i scare i will be there after
my dear Fauna friends
i am scared that i will only outlive
my dear Fiona friends
And i terrify for what is to come:
That i know of,
That i do not know of,
And that i do not know of
But know certainly is about to come.
I wrote this solely to submit to a contest but at the very last minute I read how the content need to not be sensitive matter or be in anyway offensive and I decided that they are all here (I actually started the original one with how I've always wanted to die lol). So I abandoned it being almost done after I decided to not enter the thing anymore. It's been 5 months, I happen to have dug it up, and finish and now publishing it. For Mother Nature.

*actually written as a spoken word piece. There was one period that I suddenly become obsessed with spoken word poems so I wrote two. None of them did I get to cite anywhere lol.

— The End —