Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Horror-Scopes

My favourite thing about the new year is sitting down to a trashy mag and reading about my future. The earth rotates around the sun and all of the planets align and disalign and somehow a woman with a sense for this things comes up with a prophecy.
2010
Taurus
Taureans weighed down by constraint and responsibility finally hit the eject button. Faced with a choice between risk and routine, the pursuit of pleasure will win hands down. Not only does adventurous Mars make amends for Saturn's recent cosmic restraints, it also ushers in an uncharacteristic level of self-confidence. Just take care not to overextend yourself financially. Relationships hit a high note, especially new friendships. If love makes an entrance, it may be via business. Platonic bonds may also be in for a shift of status.

Gemini Jupiter reaffirms your right to prestige and prosperity, and Pluto throws in some luck for good measure, so this should be an amazing year professionally Cancer Early 2010 may test your patience. Stay in control, this is when your new angel spirit will shine through. Leo This year brings a sense of achievement, and your driving force is independence. New ventures show amazing potential, and bear the stamp of your individuality. Virgo Change is coming, so gather your strength and prepare. All year, the cosmos ensures a busy schedule, along with a strong possibility of travel.
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Libra This year, you come to realise how amazing you are. There's an ambitious spirit in you that gentler Librans tend to suppress. But 2010 allows you to take what's rightly yours. Scorpio Your luck is in, Scorpio. Thanks to success-hungry Mars, professional possibilities are plenty, with the smallest effort producing excellent results, but some serious hours will be required between January and March. Sagittarius This year, you overflow with unstoppable confidence. With a vibrant tone set early on, you'll need no excuse to fall into the pastimes you most enjoy: being adventurous and having fun. Capricorn While many planets vie for top status, Saturn and Jupiter grab an equal lead. Be ready for out-of-the-ordinary opportunities and possible travel. Choose a direction and follow it.

Aquarius Good old-fashioned practicality usually gets the best results. The trouble is you're bored with the tried and tested, and feel drawn towards thrill and adventure. So if unexpected offers arise, you're likely to hop on board. PiscesThrow off inhibitions, Pisces. It's a year to indulge your dreams and face the future without fear, Aries If you were hoping for a gentler year ahead, you may be disappointed. Relationships become more honest and serious, and professional responsibilities increase – particularly until March. After all this year's good work, karmic laws decree that by your next birthday, it's reward time. Keep a tally

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!

Horoscopes by Tanya Obreza via Marie Claire

Listen up!




Love is a mixtape.
Songs are so emotive, bringing back memories every time you listen back on a favourite track. The boys that have made me mix tapes have always made me so happy. When I had a tapedeck in my car I listened to tapes over and over and loved every second of it. On Christmas my friend introduced me to 8tracks- an online platform for creating mixtapes, ever since I have spent hours listening to mixtapes and creating my own. Ther rules are that they have to be at least 8 tracks long and only contain two songs by the same artist.


8tracks believes handcrafted music programming trumps algorithms. Think radio in the 1970s, mixtapes in the 1980s, and DJ culture of the 1990s through today. DJs share their talent in taste making, providing exposure for artists. Listeners get a unique blend of word-of-mouth sharing and radio programming — long the trusted means for music discovery — on a global scale.

AND if you want to listen to me and LC

meow

Tuesday, December 29, 2009

8 1/2


Hollywood has such a bad habit of taking something which is good and twisting it, squishing it and pummeling it until it fits into the dvd case of a Hollywood film. Don't get me wrong, Hollywood has changed the way that film is made and seen. It is a cultural institution of the highest value (please take with a grain of salt). The problem is that not only have they changed Cinema, they have changed, remodeled and re-invested the specific film itself. With James Camerons Nine having been just released I feel a surge of anger and sorrow because a lot of people out there will see this film and never know that there was an 8 1/2. Now, I dont want to be to quick to judge because I haven't had the chance to go see Nine, but I think it would be fair to say that it will be a very homogenized version of Fellini's classic film.

8 1/2
is a masterpiece of Italian Cinema. Released in 1963 it embodies the ideals, beliefs and struggles of the Modern Italian Man. This film discusses the miracle of post-industrial, post-war, post-religious society and delves into the psychosis of a man who has come out the other side of the considerable amount of change that was the Modernization of Italy. Now, I just can't see how Hollywood is really going to capture that.
Fellini uses themes of the dream and illusion to create fissures in reality, throwing us a metaphor of the confusion of the modern man. Sometimes this film can be very self-indulgent, "His mistress shifts to whore; his mother turns into his wife. His childhood women, his nanny, his grandmother and La Saraghina, a prostitute who inhabited an abandoned beachside bunker in his youth, all march freely from Guido's subconscious across the screen. All his lovers converge for a harem sequence where they are all amenable to one another - or subdued with a whip as in La Seraghina's case". Fellini via Mastroianni somehow does this with charm.

Marcello Mastroianni: Love of my life
Nine certainly boasts a considerable amount of talent (Dame Judy Dench need I say more) and I am very much looking forward to seeing it. If Daniel Day-Lewis is half the man that Mastroianni is then it will be well worth it. Plus who doesn't want to see silver screen divas like Penelope Cruz, Nicole Kidman, Kate Hudson, Sophia Loren and Fergie all fight it out for the spotlight. I guess its just important to pay homage to the original and the original intent, because after all it is a brilliant film!

Watch the original trailer:

and see the trailer for nine here

just like riding a bike


life is like riding a bicycle. to keep your balance you must keep moving
- Albert Einstein
One of the things that i couldn't bring to London with me was my Bicycle. Back home i used to ride it quite a lot and it makes me quite sad that it is now so far away. Instead i now have to console myself by looking at these gals on their bikes. There is even this amazing blog that I found dedicated to Cycle street style. Life is so peaceful and care free when you're on a bike. Its just you and the road with the wind in your hair.

This girl really knows how to ride a bike! Truffaut will always be one of my favourite directors and this short film truly is a gem! Provincial charm and occasional glances of undergarments, he really captures something in the way these boys lust after the ideology of the feminine. Plus i just found out it was filmed in a little town named Nimes in the south of France that i visited earlier this year. Oh, the memories!

Jeanne maureau in Jules et Jim
Skins season 3
Zooey Deschanel in 500 days of summer
Brigitte Bardot
Truffaut's Les Mistons

Monday, December 28, 2009

Curiosity killed the cat

On several adventures in Hackney recently I have happened across a little shop aptly named the little shop of horrors. Filled to the brim with disgusting and yet somehow alluring trinkets and, well, scientific samples, the place takes curiosity to a whole new level. One day i will have to go down and have a poke around inside. The Last Tuesday Society's latest offspring, Viktor Wynd's Little Shop of Horrors is now open on Mare Sreet. A wide variety of curiosities and oddities are for sale - from human fetuses to shrunken heads, chocolate anuses, carniverous plants, orchids and mutated teddy bears, not to mention a fine selection of speciality teas, broken children's toys and dead plants.

Sunday, December 27, 2009

bon anniversaire, Mademoiselle

Dear LC,
Happy birthday!
here are some pretty things that i think you will like.
And i made you a mix tape! i hope you enjoy it.
Hope you have a wonderful birthday and all of your wishes come true.

Lots of love

xxx








Camera Obscura

Photography has come a mighty long way in the past 100 or so years. The humble Camera has shaped the way we see the world, the way we see each other and our entire schema of visuality (see po-mo wank ). Our grandparents were lucky to have a couple of hand painted or B&W images of their childhoods. These days we are so snap happy, sometimes our cameras feel like extensions of our own bodies. I mean, is a memory really a memory if we don't have a photo of it? haha, just kidding, although a wonderful photo can revoke some of your most beautiful, crazy and wild happy moments.


That is why I am so totally in love with Panasonics new offering to the world of visuality- the Lumix GF1. Its an ultra compact digital SLR boasting a range of super features and including a pancake lens- so tiny you can throw it in your bag! I would LOVE to get my hand on one especially since my current camera has pretty much shat itself. And lets face it, January jones is so pretty in the ad!

I think the GF1 shows the direction that photography will now be taking, DSLR quality and control in a teeny tiny size. In the Arts Industry it would be so great to have such a professional quality camera. Now all I have to do is save up $800 or so and this baby is soooo mine.

Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Good heavens, you're blushing

made some coffee for this guy

Bone China

While I was Christmas shopping down brick lane a few weeks ago I found a delight:
The shop is filled with beautiful things that are begging to be taken home with you. While there i picked up a few little presents and also fell in love with just about everything. One thing caught my eye in particular and I have hardly been able to get it out of my head...
These espresso cups caught my eye first. Their morose and macabre b&w drawings sent a shiver of delight down my spine. Made by London designer Phoebe Richardson, the drawings are based on old medical illustrations. Apparently Fearne Cotton owns a set! See Phoebes Blog left hand right eye


I couldn't stand the thought of eating my christmas dinner off an old postman pat plate, so last night after work I slipped down to Luna and Curious. Oops, may have spent a small fortune...but its worth it for something that you absolutely LOVE!

Saturday, December 5, 2009

Picture this



I love Blondie. Last year my friend Alex and I worked on an art project together where we made a pact to listen to Blondie and nothing else for two months. This would drive most people insane but it only made us love them more- and in particular Debbie Harry!

This month Proud Camden is putting on an exhibition celebrating the past 25 years of Blondie brilliance. Featuring photographs of Debbie and the boys taken by Brian Aris who also worked with the likes of David Bowie, Sting, The Rolling Stones, The Who, Duran Duran & Spandau Ballet in the 80's and 90's. It promises to be a great show- Ican't wait!




streetstyle LONDON