Thursday, September 30, 2010

to do



It seems this blog has spiralled into a stream of what we did this week/weekend lists and seventies adoration. That's okay, I'm not sure what it spiraled from and whether this was a downwards spiral either.
Here's why I'm happy: it's a bright Friday afternoon and after work I am going to drink beer in the sun with a sweet girl, and tomorrow with a sweet boy in another sunny spot (I hope), this weekend I'm planning to go to the giant hardware store and buy paint for my bike and a friend's, finish my book, bake this cake, transplant the seedlings from my windowsill to the garden (despite the impending house move - it would be a waste not to plant them...), listen to this and go to a barbeque to raise funds for a friend who was arrested last week for swearing at a police man who swore at him first.

I guess some people like it hot, I personally prefer classical music



Tony Curtis has passed away. RIP Josephine!

Wednesday, September 29, 2010

pigs and pascal



We're going to watch the film adaptation of The Unbearable Lightness of Being soon. I have watched most of it before, but gave up, exhausted, after what felt like hours of concentrated watching. Anyway, I love the book, so figure the film is worth a second go, especially because it has Daniel Day Lewis (the man of a certain age of my dreams), Juliette Binoche (with my hair cut), and Lena Olin in the outfit pictured above. I also remember there being a funny moment with a pig which I look forward to seeing again. On an unrelated note: I just heard an interview where Francine Pascal admitted to hating high school. Then why write about it so much, Francine?? Interesting.

the roaring inside her


A few disjoited thoughts:
I really like this photo series from National Geographic, Being Jane Goodall. I don't know if I could pull it off (i tend to stick with black dress as my outfit of choice year round) but I would like to take some sartorial inspiration from Jane this Summer. I remember 'studying' her when I was about six.

The other night I watched a David Attenborough primate special and I thought of you Han, there was a whole segment on Lemur mating habits, you should watch it if you haven't already.
I love David Attenborough, so much.

bizarre members of a fabulous clan

Two of our friends are a part of an exhibition which opens today at No Vacancy in Melbourne. There is no opening party so don't go there tonight you will be disappointed. Do, however, go along sometime in October, except on Mondays, to see some of the collagey, multi-disciplinary goodness. There is a closing party on October 30th, so if you are the art party type, you could go to that.

No Vacancy is upstairs in the QV at 34-40 Jane Bell Lane, in the city.

Here's what they say about the show:

The 14 artists from Australia and New Zealand embrace an offbeat approach to art making. Exhibiting a mix of 1970’s influenced aesthetics, works in progress and a range of free events throughout the month of October.

The process of collage, or ‘cut and paste’ allows the artist to situate their interests and concerns into spatial and relational consideration combining mainstream and minority viewpoints, revelations of past and present with new and redundant technologies. The works will explore a range of ideas including interpretations and understandings of identity, kinship, community, spirituality, religion and personally transformative and psychedelic experiences.

No Vacancy gallery will act as a workspace for some, exercise and relaxation studio for others, and creative paradise for many. Audiences will be invited to align themselves with unusual activities, artistic processes, and work that is often humorous, intuitive, and evolving.

currently

 Life's photos of the Hells Angels circa 1965, especially the ladies. Go look through all of them, immediately.
Vogue Paris covers are also worth trawling through, obviously.
And I love this disgruntled chair by Hector Mamet.

Sunday, September 26, 2010

i hate this but


I'm looking for a new home, again.

We've been here less than three months but we recently found out that our landlords are selling. While we don't have to be out until January, I don't think I could bear four months of househunting and so am hoping to move sooner rather than later (and have so decided against purchasing a bookshelf specifically for the current house, and unpacking the books).

Everywhere in Melbourne seems to have gone up by about $200 per week since I last checked and it's all a bit disheartening. All the time spend perving on beautiful light-filled scandanavian apartments of parquet floors, white walls and mismatched dining chairs is also a bit disheartening, but also inspiring.

Most of these pictures came from here, here, here and here and are also stuck to my wall in a kind of 'The Secret'ish way.

this is twee, I apologise

But I truly love the tangle of poppies sitting on my window-sill. The unopened buds are a bit obscene, bristly snake heads which stare pointedly from their wiry stalks. The opened ones are just great, though. I had to take pictures with my terrible cellphone. 

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

new hair

Lou: Of course, of course, OF COURSE I have seen Boardwalk Empire. 

Its fashion week here and I'm completely uninvolved in it (its also NZ Opera's Macbeth week which obviously is much more important). However, one of our friends is very involved in it, and she somehow found the time to cut my hair yesterday. Now I have a Clara Bow bob sitting on my head, and I like it a lot. It is taking some getting used to, though, mostly because my neck is a bit cold and I feel as though my face (and, of course, my lip pimple) is very much on display. Anyway, I want to curl my hair so that it looks like this:
And then I want someone to host a Boardwalk Empire themed party so I can dress up in a saucy tuxedo.

Backstage at twenty seven names (photo from NZ Herald)

I'm not going to any shows other than Karen Walker, which is hilarious because I only own one KW thing, and it is a T Shirt. I wish I had gone to Ruby and Twentysevennames, though, since I actually buy their clothes. But as a person who enjoys fashion but otherwise is totally removed from the Fashion Industry, I wasn't going  anywhere. I especially like Ruby. They have beers and sausage sizzles at their sales, which is a sure fire way to make me buy things from them. 
Ruby at Fashion Week, from Fashionz
Instead of going to Fashion shows I went to the Atrium on Elliot, which is a mall near my work that is chocka-block full of small, mostly Asian boutiques. I wandered through, feeling a bit out of place and not-put-together-enough but found a knit jersey with a panda on it and a really pretty black dress. I would like them both. And that is my NZFW 2010 report. 

ruby red lips

A sneak preview of the fifth issue of I Love You magazine, available soon, and this edition is all about princesses. The cover features Paz de la Huerta who, to be honest I hadn't heard of until I watched the first episode of Boardwalk Empire the other night. She plays Lucy Danziger, Nucky's slightly annoying flapper mistress and I think I only noticed that because she has an interesting name... Anyway she has gorgeous hair and I'm excited about reading this!

Incidentally, Boardwalk Empire, Han have you SEEN it yet??

We have both been counting down to this, along with everyone else, for months. I've watched the HBO teaser (and forced others to) at least 25 times and the pilot which played this week lived up to expectations in almost every way. Steve Buscemi is an excellent man. Michael Pitt is a massive babe. Apparently it cost $5 million just to produce the pilot, holy cow. Here's another trailer.

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

high or low?

I'm going to buy some white chucks today, the ones with the red and blue on them. I'm leaning towards low, I think. I will protector spray the chucks so I don't ruin them. And then they will be my chucks forever. I like this picture of Elvis wearing Chucks. It sums up how I think they are best worn: crisply, with letterman sweaters, slacks a la Take Ivy, with pre-fat Elvis.
Incedentally, this movie, Change of Habit, looks really good. That's Mary Tyler Moore with Elvis. Photos are from here.
When I was 16 I bought a pair of chucks that were black and had "Mangere" embroidered on them. At the time I thought I was being really funny and ironic, but in retrospect I think I was just being a little shit. 

I've often moaned about my inability to dress as preppily as I would like. Never mind that I only seem to wear grey marl, blue denim, tan shoes and khaki anoraks: I just can't shake that grungy, rumpled feeling. Maybe white chucks will help. But perhaps the answer is that I should iron my clothes.  
Another topic I frequently rant about is how much I love Linda Ronstadt in the 1970s. Well, get a load of these photos from her Simple Dreams tour. *Also get a load of JD Souther (far right). Babe.
Everyone on that tour was impeccably dressed. I love the flares, I love the short shorts, I love denim on denim, I love shirts tied up in knots, I love flowers behind ears, I love hirsute bands.

Sunday, September 19, 2010

Image from lurve.

as for me

Juice date, opera (good), wine, antibiotics, art party, trombones, zombie songs, home, antibiotic, bacon and avocado Molenberg sandwich, coffee, antibiotic, Kat, tea, smokes, several episodes of mad men, beer, Bobbie Barrett, pizza, beer, smokes, bonus mad men, antibiotic, carrot and citrus soup, chai, antibiotic, sleepover, spoon, antibiotic, toast, coffee, work, chocolate cake. 


two days



This weekend has been one of birthdays, beers, an enormous house party and up until six. Not showering, coloured tights (milky pins) and too many smokes. Nursing a new friend, voms, neurofen and lunch in the garden courtyard of a new favourite spot, chipped manicures, a bunch of white sweetpeas, a lovely afternoon over beers and too many smokes and a delicious meal cooked too late and shared with three of the longest friends. Clean white sheets and a shower before climbing in.

The pictures were nicked from here here and here.

Friday, September 17, 2010

Thursday, September 16, 2010

something i've never noticed before

but which is popping up all over the place around me lately...

is the way that some men have of completely naturally unbuttoning their jackets as they sit down. My boss does it, a man on the train did it, and last night Jon Hamm did it on the Daily Show (it happens about 53 seconds into that clip). I don't know why but this gesture to me exudes masculinity, confidence, and some kind of old-fashioned etiquette and charm. Like tying a tie, it seems something men should have learnt from their fathers.

Anyway thinking about this reminded me of this great photo essay from Rolling Stone, and how much I love love Mad Men. How gorgeous is that photo of Elizabeth Moss and Robert Morse aka Peggy and Bert Cooper at the top??

p.s. Jon Hamm's voice makes me weak at the knees

my cup of tea

In my adult life I have swung in and out of heavy tea drinking phases. Going months without any and then suddenly finding myself drinking more tea than water, with boxes and boxes of bags and leaves to offer guests along with biscuits and gossip. My flatmate and I once went through a 100 box of earl grey in a little under a fortnight and considered that quite an achievement, he was unemployed at the time so had more tea drinking time available to him than usual I suppose. Han and I used to share pots of lady grey, with a little honey, through cold Wellington winters. I recently bought a new teapot, it's large and blue and my favourite thing in the kitchen at the moment. Since moving into an all-girl house I have found myself once again drowning, not unpleasantly, in cups of tea around the kitchen table, on the front stoop, in the backyard, on the living room floor and taken back to bed on a Saturday morning. The jug is constantly boiling and I am increasingly stuck on what kind to have, sugar? honey? milk or soy? My indecisiveness is usually reserved (embarassingly) to meals out with friends but as the weather warms and my body craves hydration, perhaps more than the comfort of a hot mug, I'm getting stuck on this simple offer, ever gracious and oft off-handed.

It's no wonder that tea preparation and consumption has attracted such ritual in so many societies. The Japanese tea ceremony is something I've only experienced through books but the british high tea is an event ceremonious enough for a birthday or baby shower. The watery, sepia offerings of dumpling houses in chinatown, where I was once scolded 'no water! Only tea!' (this did happen) is self-served from steaming urns into grubby cups but they're free and you'll find you can't sit through a noisy drunken meal without refilling.

My favourite varieties change with each phase but earl grey is my rock. Lately I have become a sucker for Celestial Seasonings' Bengal Spice. It's the cinnamon, combined with a splash of milk and some manuka honey, that reminds me of a drink my mum used to make on the stove and call 'sleeping potion' on dark winter nights. Perhaps there's nostalgia also, in the brand; after a school tour of the Celestial Seasonings factory in Colorado when I was six we were each given a sampler box of herbal teas to take home. Only recently have I gotten over my 'smells great tastes nothing' disdain for herbals, and I have to admit, it was Celestial Seasonings berry zinger that turned me. My recent flu was coddled with a tisane of lemongrass and ginger, the same leaves in the pot for two or three refills of hot water, and, while I've developed a recent craving for hot chocolate, I have a steaming cup of peppermint on my desk in front of me.
Kate from stylized, Gaga from popdirt and George via weheartit...

Monday, September 13, 2010

things I have been doing lately



Working
Wallowing in flueyness
Watching the X Files
Tracing
Watercolouring
Spending my savings
Monitoring the progress of seedlings
Househunting :c
Things I have not been doing lately:
Writing
Socialising
Buying shoes
Keeping in touch
The top photo comes from life in the slow line and the shoes were saved under 'Julia' but I can't for the life of me remember what that means.

well, I'M excited