''A lively & talkative member of the class''

Cello playing giant bees and other animals

Sun, 21 Oct 2012 22:27:23 +0100

On Friday I had the day off work (whoop) and so treated myself to a bit of fantasy in the shape of the Tim Walker exhibition at Somerset House. I was a little perturbed on route to discover that it wasn’t just the fantastic photography that would be on display but also a number of the props including a 20 foot ringleted sinister doll. For a normal person this might be a stretch but with my phobia of all things that look human and aren’t this was going to be a challenge for me. Luckily my good chum Busy Girl was on hand to administer smelling salts or CRP if necessary…

Take a look at the evidence

However, far from being a fright the exhibition was amazing, the photography was dreamlike, nightmarish and spectacular in equal measures. I highly recommend a visit

I definitely saw the dolls eye move though…

Kusamarama

Wed, 22 Aug 2012 22:45:00 +0100

Lately I have been walking a lot (a lot more than I have been blogging it seems) My walks have been delightful and have been taking me down through Bond Street. I just need to make it clear here that, I am, actually walking from my place of work to Victoria and not just trying to spin shopping trips as walks so as to purge myself of guild related to lack of genuine exercise and an over flexing of my purchase muscles…

Anyway whilst walking down bond street I was stopped in my tracks outside Louis Vuitton. It’s not that unusual that a shop can stop me dead in my tracks but what I was looking at was a little more unusual for a shop window in the eye catching stakes. See for yourself, a bonafide art installation which is a collaboration between Marc Jacobs for LV and the Japanese artist Kusama. See the amazing flowers that look like eyes, that’s if you are looking at eyes through a kaleidoscope, Kusama herself captured for posterity as an uncannily lifelike model (difficult picture to take for a woman who has a morbid fear of waxwork dummies) and the mini Kusama’s which would look good on my book shelves

as if all this wasn’t enough, I learned today, courtesy of Grazia, that the collaboration extends itself far further than just the window displays, as of they weren’t enough. There are scarves, bags, shoes, dresses and trench coats…oh my… scarves, bags, shoes, dresses and trench coats oh my. I particularly LOVE the bags and have started to think of them in the most lustful ways, pondering what I would have to give up (food) or sell (kidney?) to make one of them mine. It’s the green waves pattern that I have my eye on, I can’t find a picture of the bag but here is a wallet in the same pattern. What do you think?

Good old Selfridges will be hosting the full collection in their wonder rooms… Wonderful. Taxi, Selfridges please…

Smile or you will crack the camera...

Thu, 28 Jun 2012 12:21:00 +0100

…and other things my mother used to say to me… ”If the wind changes your face will set like that”. Lets hope that there is no wind today then because sometimes old adages can actually come true. A short time after taking this photo the camera that it was taken with has mysteriously broken!!

Believe it or not I am very happy today but my face would tell you another very different story. I look more than mildly disgruntled, It’s like my (fictional) dog ate my (fictional) budgie, sicked it back up popped it in the microwave and served it to me with a side of beetroot a sprinkling of parsley and a gun to my head. The intense frown line is also not helping matters, you could park a bike in it.

I am on a train to Manchester going to see the Stone Roses and this is why I am happy and not mourning the loss of a fictional bird that I was forced to eat by a fictional dog - enough of that. I intend to turn back the clock to 1989 this weekend which means that I will have a more sunny and optimistic disposition than I have now and will still feel like the whorl is my oyster rather than my jellyfish, I will have a terrible perm (WHY didn’t anyone tell me) high waisted jeans, DM boots and better skin… perhaps 1989 wasn’t all bad

This one is no less sinister

Thu, 07 Jun 2012 22:19:00 +0100

This one is no less sinister

I don’t know what this is but I am terrified of it

Thu, 07 Jun 2012 22:13:10 +0100

I don’t know what this is but I am terrified of it

Nice hair, shame about the photographer.

Sun, 03 Jun 2012 17:23:20 +0100

Nice hair, shame about the photographer.

Queenies Jubilee

Fri, 01 Jun 2012 22:04:31 +0100

I have just watched two programs on the queen,fancy that. She is all over the box at the moment as it’s her big party this weekend and we (the peoples) have all got an invite, whoop, I love a party or two. It’s really nice to see her children and grandchildren talk about her so warmly and fondly, this is a side of the queen that we don’t get to hear about as much.

What I most appreciated however was the spectacular display of jewels she wore at official functions over the years. For I am a person who very much enjoys a jewel or two, although mine are hardly a match for queens. Perhaps she might like to do swaps? I will tweet her.

My contribution to the jubilee, aside from eating cakes decorated in red, white and blue, which I fully intend to do this weekend, are the following photo’s. Said photo’s have both featured on this blog before but a girls only got so many pictures of the queen.

The nation seems ready to party and London is bedecked splendidly with union jack bunting, so let the celebrations commence. Cheers your Madge

this woman's father put his hand inside a dead squirrel & pretended that it was a glove puppet

Sun, 27 May 2012 19:29:36 +0100

I recently discovered The Blogess (Jenny Lawson) through her snort out loud funny book: Let’s Pretend This Never Happened. If you have the time and the inclination I highly recommend that you read it. Warning: do not read if you are on the tube, not wearing tenaladies, are a vegetarian, have general issues with taxidermy, are easily offended or have a weak heart. If none of the above applies - what are you waiting for - go and buy it!

On a beautiful sunny day like today i’d be inclined to...

Sun, 27 May 2012 19:19:23 +0100

On a beautiful sunny day like today i’d be inclined to agree

Sun, shoes and a whopping great plate of meat

Sun, 27 May 2012 19:08:37 +0100

I had a couple of days off work last week and luckily enough they were the best days of the year so far weather wise. The big orb was in the sky and it’s rays were shooting out warmth and happiness. On Thursday I decided to take myself off to the Christian Louboutin exhibition at the Design Museum. This was actually my first trip to the design museum and I enjoyed a lovely stroll down the south bank to get there.

I enjoyed the exhibition, it’s not the best that I have been to as I thought that it could have been bigger with more shoes, I mean one can never have enough shoes. However, I particularly liked the recreation of Louboutin’s office and thought that the Dita Von Teese hologram was really impressive if a little bit scary. This is coming from a woman with a fear of things that are supposed to represent humans but aren’t actually humans. This mainly means that I have a fear of wax work dummies but the hologram definitely falls into this category too. If you are interested in hearing more straight from the mouth of the man with the most fabulous shoes click here for an exclusive interview with Christian Louboutin by Grazia’s Paula Reed

After all of the shoes I needed to eat, it’s hard work looking at beautiful things. So I trotted off to spoil myself rotten with a plate full of meat. The waiter assured me that it wasn’t big, I have never heard a man underestimate in that way before, so I was rather taken aback by what was put in front of me. Take a look at this and understand why I got some very, very curious stares. It was delicious though and I had cheese too shhhh it’s our secret.

I needed to walk this off and so I tripped gaily along the south bank to the Tate Modern to have a look at their permanent exhibitions, I grew tired of cubism and teenagers (there was a lot of both) and so sat on the grass enjoying the fabulous wok of art called the sun. Bliss.

This window is literally blowing chunks

Fri, 25 May 2012 22:15:55 +0100

This window is literally blowing chunks

Sounds like a command to me. Who am I to disobey. Just off to...

Fri, 25 May 2012 22:12:53 +0100

Sounds like a command to me. Who am I to disobey. Just off to the fridge

At first glance I thought that this said ”good entrance in...

Wed, 23 May 2012 22:42:00 +0100

At first glance I thought that this said ”good entrance in yard”. It doesn’t and I was disappointed. No one likes a bad entrance!

If you likea me like I likea youand we likea both the same,I...

Thu, 17 May 2012 22:30:19 +0100

If you likea me like I likea you
and we likea both the same,
I likea say this very day
I likea change you name,
‘Cause I lovea you and lovea you true
and if you would lovea me.
One live as two, two live as one, under the bamboo tree.S

Steve Martin: Man With Two Brains

Less is more more or less The Scaremongers

Wed, 16 May 2012 07:48:19 +0100

Less is more more or less

The Scaremongers

HG Swells...

Sun, 13 May 2012 22:50:00 +0100

Ever wondered what it might be like to get in a time machine and jump back to any era, just for the fun of it, or to correct a mistake - 1980’s perm & MC Hammer pants anyone? Well last night I had my own HG Wells moment when I stepped through the doors of Wiltons. Wilton’s for the uninitiated (as I was until last night) is the oldest surviving music hall in the world, nestled down an unpresupposing alleyway near Tower Hill, you might never know this jewel was there. A music hall since 1850 and now a theatre and bar Wiltons is an absolute treasure for anyone with a love of London’s rich hidden history or just an appreciation for beautiful buildings that proudly wear the traces of the thousands of people who have stepped through their doors.

I should say that I wasn’t just wandering around the alleyways of East London, hoping to discover a music hall or the like. I was specifically at Wiltons to watch a stage performance of The Great Gatsby.

I was expecting the play to be just on the stage, why would I not be? but from the moment we arrived we were immersed, slap bang in the middle of swelligant, roaring 1920’s America. Greeted by more feathers, pearls, sequins, fringe and red lipstick than you could shake at sick at it was fantastic to see that so many people had made the effort to dress up. The men as well as the women joined in the fun, I especially liked the use of plus fours in an urban environment and seeing many a turbaned head. My outfit was slightly schizophrenic: below the waist I was very 2000’s (in jeans and gold boots) but above I was channeling the 1920’s in my vintage jacket, red lips and rolled up hair. I’d like to think that I made a nod to the era but didn’t didn’t quite have the gumption to travel on public transport from Streatham bedecked in full 1920’s regalia.

Also given that it was a time when prohibition was gaining traction the booze was flowing, though I should say that this is not the reason that I look pie eyed in this photo, I just don’t photograph well.

The actors were mingling with the audience in character before the performance and during the interval, which added to the whole atmosphere of the evening. Punctuated with song and with a cast of just 8 the play was really enjoyable and the tables at the front (one of which we were lucky enough to be seated at thanks to E for Envelope for buying the tickets and having the foresight to book said table) just added to the whole speakeasy feel. It was a real event and even though the tickets are sold out, if you can get your sticky mitts on one on the black market, I highly recommend that you attend. Thanks again to E for Envelope & Busy Girl Buys Beauty for a very enjoyable evening.

When Huw Edwards smiled...

Thu, 10 May 2012 23:08:34 +0100

No it’s not a typo, your eyes aren’t deceiving you. Tonight - possibly for the very first time on the news at 10 - Huw Edwards Smilled… yes people the corners of his mouth raised up and his eyes twinkled and the gaping frown line momentarily disappeared. It was like someone had switched the lights on all over the UK (ok, too much) I have lost count of the number of times I have watched the news and thought that he might just do it, he might actually smile. But, the picture below is the nearest that he has ever got. This really is more of a grimace, like the face of a man being held to ransom by a photographer waving a rubber chicken behind the lens in an attempt to see a glimpse of something human…

Now don’t get me wrong the news is a serious business, it’s no daybreak with their frivolous sofa based chat and Huw is no George Alagiah inappropriately grinning all over the place like the most Cheshire of cats. However, even the news is sometimes prefaced by the word good. How many runaway cute penguins and heart warming talking cat stories has that man read out with not a shadow of a smile, NOT EVEN A SHADOW HUW! But he finally cracks, to a full megawatt face contorted in 10 types of glee smile, but by what?

By a piece about Prince Charles reading the BBC weather forecast. 30 minutes later I am still reeling and I still can’t work it out, where was the humour in that? Perhaps it was the double breasted suit that the 1st in line to the throne was wearing that caused so much mirth? Perhaps Huw was recalling the time that he and Camilla laughed about the price of duchy organic bacon over a G&T in the green room or maybe he’s a dreadful sycophant who wants a knighthood… Perhaps, I will never know.

Tonight my world has turned on it’s axis, who knows what tomorrow brings? Paul Daniels referring to Debbie as his awful assistant, the Chuckle Brothers saying not to me not to you, Wogan admitting it’s a wig and going for the full Goodhuw reveal? Will the birds stop singing and the foxes stop pis-sing on my doorstep? I will not sleep a wink tonight in anticipation.

*why are my references all about minor celebrities who had their heyday in the 1980’s?*

''The only place where success comes before work is a dictionary''...

Wed, 09 May 2012 22:45:00 +0100

… was a quote from legendary British hairdressers Vidal Sassoon, who sadly died today. Regarded as one of the best hairdressers of his generation, he will always be remembered for his recreation of the iconic bob style in the 1960 and the women who wore it, Mary Quant pictured here for one. He was also famous for shaping the hairs and smoothing the follicles of many a famous women including Twiggy’s and her 60’s gamine crop.

I will remember him fondly also for his hair styling range which I purchased throughout the 80’s and early 90’s. The hairspray I had a special fondness for, it smelled of marzipan and helped to secure my ‘iconic’ 4 inch lacquered fringe. A monolith atop my head which after Sassooning would not be moved by anything not least the harsh, bitter Welsh valley winds. I bet that a Dyson hand dryer, which could quite easily flay the skin off your hands, couldn’t even budge it. Ahh happy days..

Possibly less well known about Vidal Sassoon is that he fought against the rise of Fascism in the UK, against Oswald Mosley in the 1940”s. Then in 1948, at the age of 20, he joined the Israeli Defence Forces and fought in the 1948 Arab-Israeli War.

So a sad goodbye to Mr Sassoon who’s influence can still be seen in haircuts everywhere. If you are intersted in finding out more about his fascinating life, there is a DVD documentary available. I might just pop to Amazon to purchase

I love this image

How odd, this man is having words put in his head not his mouth....

Mon, 07 May 2012 22:26:55 +0100

How odd, this man is having words put in his head not his mouth. How dare he visually mix up that well known saying. Perhaps he’s just distracted because Pluto is dabbing wall paper paste on his chin. That would be enough to confuse anyone.

This must be the place...

Mon, 07 May 2012 22:09:16 +0100

My place at the moment seems to be sat on my bed lazing, I am more cat like that I am prepared to admit. However, this post is not about my place, I know my place… but the film ‘This Must Be The Place’ (which I watched this weekend) starring Sean Penn as a disaffected, depressed Robert Smith alike rock star who goes to visit his dying father who he hasn’t seen for 30 years. He then embarks on another journey to find his fathers tormentor at Auschwitz and has his own parallel journey of discovery.

The film is by screenwriter and director Paulo Sorrentino (of Il Divo fame) and has to be one of the best films that I have seen in a long time. It’s beautifully shot and the writing is incredibly well observed and heartwarming. If you get the chance I highly recommend that you view it, in fact here’s the trailer, to help you alongI’m not pushy!

Two more things, it introduced me the Talking Heads song, from which the aforementioned film title took it’s name, of which I was not aware. David Byrne is now 99 pence (minus the 30% bite that Apple take) better off as I have just downloaded it.

The second thing, I went to see to at the Electric Cinema in Notting Hill. It’s taken me a long time to make my first trip here but I will most certainly be back. Big leather chairs with foot stools and a bar in the actual screening room, what’s not to love?

Off now to watch a program about Foxes, don’t you just love bank holiday viewing?