Six Bad Seeds

Not Marshall

2010-07-26T02:38:00.004+02:00

check out that for gammy cover art. have yet to listen to Sucka Free, i think it's the third Nicki mixtape before she started getting properly big, stopped imitating Kim and starting hanging with Gucci Mane.. wither way should be interesting. Barbie World was HAWWT. Playtime's Over not so much to my taste, though this was mainly due to the constant interludes made by 'DJ Big Mike' and his collection of vocoders. oh god. but as to the songs, wow, i still think Nicki deserves to get big and be able to afford as many ass implants and disco trousers as she likes.

subject of music, i just downloaded a collection of Eminem instrumentals, with the aim of re-writing everything from a hysterical feminist perspective, and then, hopefully, messing around with it on Ableton. there will be samples of Christina Aguilera and the Spice Girls (he goes after both in early work). there will be digs at the Beasties. there might even be me trying to sound GANGSTA. who dares me to actually do it?

HoF-ed

2010-07-22T01:07:00.005+02:00

i'm getting really scared about this already- there are seemingly hundreds of ways to close a sale, all of them a little bit fake. i'm fortunate in that the product is genuinely great and people don't come to ouse of Fraser without being prepared to spend some money. but how many pots of Mica and Titanium Oxide colour pigment can a single person shift? we'll see. in the meantime i'm looking forward to having free reign on the sparkles..

ps. this is the way those mildly-irritating Heineken ads should look. though perhaps Ireland's crunk market isn't wide enough.

pps. world, this is officially my favourite music video. of all time. i am awe-struck. RESPECT.

post-p.p.s. is anyone else hitting that amazing Ikea sale? could use a wall desk, a six-euro lamp or two.

LAST. (an amendment)

OH MY GOD, i just wrote a fashwan post about how Tippi Hedren was a sub-influence in the Autumn collections. and now look at Tom Ford's amaaaaaaze-balls (yeah i said amazeballs) new eyewear campaign. beautiful. and sinister. and beaky. the prospect of being able to afford a pair of those thick black rounded frames is enough to make me sell a thousand Mineral Pots. i'll be keeping them in mind...

sell sell sell

2010-07-19T15:18:00.003+02:00

'Mirabelle Buttersfield moved from Vermont hoping to begin her life. And now she is stranded in the vast openness of LA. She keeps working to make connections, but the pile of near misses is starting to overwhelm her. What Mirabelle needs is an omniscient voice to illuminate and spotlight her and to inform everyone that this one has value, this one standing behind the counter in the glove department and to find her counterpart and bring him to her.'

-from Steve Martin's 'Shopgirl'

tomorrow i begin till-training. its a little like house-training a pet, except you swap 'litter tray' for 'LCD touch screen'.

then dress me in black and teach me how to apply foundation with a brush, and i'm going to be a fully paid-up makeup counter girl. should be interesting de-orangifiying and blending in the tide-marks of the world.

more to come. maybe.

the mean reds

2010-07-08T02:30:00.006+02:00

the strangest web pop-up ever?

long week no see, my dears. i've been busy, lots of rushing, interning (The Dubliner, lovesit), writing, hanging around halfpipes, party crashing, disco dancing, casual club-whore promotions work and eating other people's ricecakes.

in other words i've been keeping too busy to stop and think about it. and entirely on purpose. there is this underlying horror taking hold that i'm not in education anymore, that i'm expected, now, to educate myself. this might mean taking a little notebook everywhere i go (which i do anyhow, these days, in case of magazine Vox Pops and ideas for The Novel...). it might also mean i'll have the get up at 8am everyday for the rest of my life. there's a sense of the 'grind' about it all, right now. i want a slacker job, one that gives me time to make things and write and read purely for myself. unluckily no-one seems willing to pay for this kind of job, or at least, i've not tried hard enough one. if i want enough to move out, the aim within the next few months, then i am going to have to grind. Lil Wayne comes to mind, inevitably. hustle harder. yar.

Will wrote a really sad but lovely piece on his blog about something similar; if any of the errant Englings are reading this and haven't already clicked, CLICK IT. i'm not going to be anywhere near as eloquent; suffice to say i'm coming down. degrees are like ecstacy. they use up all your energy on a high you think is better than anything else out there, that draws you close to a group of like-minded people. you get so wound up in the circuit of it you lose track of everything outside. but really all you're getting is a kind of fruitless insanity (in our case, over Sophoclean tragedy rather than Deep House music...). you end up not chemically deficient, but lacking influences and 'real life' culture. you find yourself sapped-up and depressed, guilty over wasted time and how you have embarrassed yourself.

though thats kind of the point, right? Cambridge, and in particular English, exists essentially as a platform from which to be as poncy as you like, to pose and delude yourself, and essentially put off ever joining the real world. i tried my best to keep one foot in reality, with overpriced train trips to London and breaks in Ireland courtesy of Ryanair. but i'm as guilty of it as anyone. i miss the libraries, the shelter of old, beautiful buildings, the creepy handyman who always showed up to fix the radiator. next time i have that problem, i'll have to pay for said creepy handyman. i even miss Ramsey. not that i ever ate there, but the comfort that it was there if i ever needed deep-fried comfort, one day.

this would be an opportune point to post some cheesy graduation pictures. but my camera is upstairs and its 1.43am, and i'm too lazy. another time. it might be a bit too cheesy a move, anyhow (and i have a few ones of those late-night swimmers they might not forgive me for...). but for anyone from Cambridge- i should name all of you like Gayle Goh did, but i won't- i miss you all, and it feels like i'm missing a limb, or at least a medium-sized toe, not being there with you now.

no point hanging on to the past, though. if the come-down is one of resentment, that 'if we're so brilliant, why don't other people think it?', then we can blame only ourselves. getting in never really confirmed 'brilliance', any more than our savagely odd, arbitrary part 2 results did. it's up to us to prove it. and that's what makes the future so exciting.

the robe-ing room

2010-06-25T10:09:00.006+02:00

this is redonk.

ways in which it is redonk:

1. yes its been a week, maybe two. dayum i need to write more, its just been exceptionally busy. fun things, family, theatre, the smell of bagels in the morning, parties, raves, raves in caves, sunburn, travelling, lots of Ryanair stress, and the true nightmare that is filling out all the forms and paying off bills and tracking down an ermine hood for my college GRADUATION..

2. its also redonk because, bloody hell, ITS MY GRADUATION. i'm old. i'm qualified (kind of..). I'M A GODDAMN DOCTOR OF JOURNALISM! (not really, though i did get a 2:1, with which i am fairly happy).

3. i'm going back to Ireland. to any English Englings reading this, know that i'l be back very soon, whether in a more long term capacity, or in a 'i'm just here for the weekend to visit Brick Lane and see Grace Jones' kind of way. but we shall be reunited. and not at that silly 'Mugdalenites' annual lunch. something better:)

4. the last but not least ridiculous thing is the ceremony itself. Dr Hughes, my DOS, last night described the ceremony as 'kinky'. i'm forced to agree:) you pull the head of the university's finger as he mutters something in Latin. four others do the same at the same time. then you receive a piece of paper with 'BA' written on it, but not the title or class of your degree.

all very quaint. but my main problem is the dress code. it is bakingly hot in Cambridge. baking, and we wear black and white and long sleeves and robes on top. and on top of the robes we wear the 'BA Hood'. the BA Hood is a coveted item and the subject of a university-wide scam; in the run-up to graduation, the four main university outfitters put it about that they have run out of hoods, in the hope that you'll invest in a £75 version out of sheer desperation. i must admit i nearly did. but then i heard about a last minute 'robeing room' in the Guild Hall, where you can go up to this embarrassing little confession booth, i mean concession booth, and two middle aged guys from Ede and Ravenscroft will good-naturedly take the piss out of you and charge £15 for a rental.

it was with great relief that i finally tracked down the ermine hood (actually made of synthetic fur. at least i don't graduate with the moral guilt of killing rodents..). but now there;'s the problem of how the hell do you actually wear it?? i've made a video to illustrate. there are several ways, i've discovered. none of them seem right.

anyways, to all my darling Englings, to everyone who has influenced me and helped me and even just met up with me once in a while for pizza and semi-obscene cartoon films about cats, THANK YOU. and good luck. and thank you. and i am certain, absolutely certain, that i'll be seeing you again very soon.

ps. a very detailed article on the perils of arranging academic hoods can be found here

the gingers claim a new one for the team

2010-06-06T14:40:00.003+02:00

after that MIA video, it seemed the cause had suffered a blow from which they might never recover.

but now Rihanna has converted to the red side, proving that the cause of Toxic Ginger-ism transcends not only homogenized fashion standards, but race too! girl is from Barbados! she couldn't be further from pale'n'freckly! and the shaved-off sides. and the multiple micro-tattoos.

lovesit. though her outfit is looking a little bit, um, Night Porter for my liking, i love that Rihanna's music is so ridiculously mainstream, but that fashion-wise she's never afraid to push the envelope.

ps. oh and look! (in the other pictures its easier to see) she wearing the A-morir knuckle duster stud ring! got to make myself one of those soon..

a crafty update

2010-06-05T23:14:00.002+02:00

my new one. joke.

i linketh to my projects:

bling glasses

more blinged-out glasses

a hack designer bracelet

hellzyes. its good to be back.

I'M GOING BACK ON CRAFTSTER!

2010-06-03T21:14:00.003+02:00

link to how-to tutorial pending.

NOM.

ps. Dear Daily Mail. i like leggings, tuxedos and oversized glasses. life would be boring without them. boring, flowery and pastel-coloured.

are Swiss people born minimal by default?

2010-05-30T15:25:00.003+02:00

hehe

i've been meaning to put up some photographs from over the last few days, lots of fun times, fitful bursts of sunshine, adventures in peoples gardens and the like punctuated with occasional stops to keel over and fall asleep from post-exam exhaustion. it seems to be taking a long time to get my energy back. i think most people are the same- this term has been a slow and unrelenting GRIND. you only realise when its over just how tiring its been.

so in the spirit of this, while i'm being lazy and putting off organising and uploading pictures, i've been thinking a lot about clearing off my desk. i've already made that cathartic library visit where you leave back all the exam reading. but my desk is still stained with coffee rings and piled with paper and crap. and mentally its kind of a block, and i've got job applications to fill out, A NOVEL (!) to write, and various books on my list i've been putting off looking at forever.

i think everything in my life right now, from my second-hand shopping habits to my caffeine intake and cereal-induced blood sugar, could benefit from some minimalism. in order to create, there has to be a gap to fill. the rest of your mind needs to be at rest. you shouldnt have to worry about walking straight into a table when you wake up at night in the dark (this isnt actually my fault- my room at Thompson's Lane is fairly small and the college maintenance dept seem to have fulfilled some condition or other that says every room has to have a table and three chairs. the result is clutter and stuff in on top of itself..). i sort of grew up in an anti-minimal home, where everything is treasured but kept way too long and grown dusty in the process.. right ow my room is semi-minimal- lots of odd design objects and a neon jesus, but clean spaces in between. though they could definitely be cleaner (especially now exams are over, and i dont have an excuse..). the beauty of this new obsession is it doesnt involve buying anything, just making the effort to rearrange my room and keep things clean and ordered. what better way to teach myself un-studenty habits now im finished and out in the real world..

cue a list of inspirational guides to a minimalist life and a matching deskspace:

ikeahacker this site is for Swedish furniture aficionados who can't afford their (admittedly low) prices. or maybe the bus fare to said Swedish furniture shop. don't know if there even is an Ikea anywhere near Cambridge, but i was totally enthused by their posts on creating a craft-friendly desk space

unclutterer is a more approachable and youth-targeted Martha Steward. without the blowdry and jail record. i like that this site takes in every aspect of living, decluttering your kitchen, your web browser and everything else inbetween.

minimal student this one is the best! like study hacks by Cal Newport, i wish i had known about this site early on in my degree. everyone needs a but of guidance living away from home, and this site features regular posts on practical stuff- organisation, work/fun balance, finances etc, as well as unpretentious information on Zen living. without looking like a cult or a creepy Tom Cruise-style motivational speaker. i really, really like.

the urban minimalist the diary of someone actually trying to live out the ideals on the previous websites. lets see how far they get.

witty unpredictable talent and natural game

2010-05-29T11:40:00.002+02:00

i really love this girl's ghetto fabulous DIY rap-referencing blog. but these earrings truly take the cake.

toxic tattooed gingers

2010-05-25T18:01:00.002+02:00

its been too, too long since i last sat up watching Miami Ink late into the early morning. its the perfect blend of voyeurism and psychological waffle about how all the tattoo subjects have been through some crisis or other, only to emerge with a big beautiful phoenix/skull/biomechanical arm-piece tattooed on their arm.

in a post-exam world. save me a place on the sofa:)

ps. also Kat just rocks as a redhead. i'm so re-dyeing tomorrow after Visual Culture- there's a box of the cheesily named 'Hypnotic Red' Live hair colour waiting on my table. oh and aren't her leggings wunderbar? both Rihanna and Nicki Minaj have been spotted with them in black and white.

'635 poor people upside down'

2010-05-24T08:47:00.004+02:00

after American literature, all i have left is the Visual Culture paper- that abstract, vaguely arty and baffling one where you have to talk about words, images, semiotics and John Berger's dodgy tie. an article in the Times mentions Scott King, a graphic designer/artist who's been snapped up by Saatchi in the hopes of creating a new Saatchi-geist this summer. don't know about that, but his work certainly brings the mild lolz.

i would rather see a budgie-deity in Vogue, too.

they should consider recruiting this guy. if not Vogue, then Monocle. if not Monocle, then maybe Modern Toss.

read here for a bit more.

returning were as tedious as go o'er

2010-05-21T11:45:00.002+02:00

i currently feel like a broken quote machine.

i have become unstuck in time.

i sing only to weep again.

i see my light dying.

the wheel has come full circle. i am here.

i can't go on. i'll go on!

arg. two more after today's. Tragedy. the big one. things are getting serious .

to anyone who is reading and has exams too, we're nearly there, we almost have degrees now.. GOOD LUCK!

if you're feeling bookish..

2010-05-16T20:31:00.002+02:00

..but your eyes have got tired, click here. looooooooaaaaaads of free audiobooks, most of em the classics, lots of them tragic and therefore useful for last minute coursework. i've already downloaded Gogol and The Rime of the Ancient Mariner. the plan is to listen to them when i go running- no-one will know, as i run by in my hideous new white running shoes (more on this another time) that i'm quietly drowning in sea shanties and Russian misery...

(ps. the above is a dedication at the start of a study of Moby Dick. i just thought it was adorable. and rather mysterious.)

of Ruffians and Rivals

2010-05-13T02:42:00.003+02:00

in a ridiculously near the exams but aw-screw-it-lets-go-ahead-anyway kind of move, i joined the brothre for two days in London to see Born Ruffians play two gigs in the vicinity of Shoreditch. Tuesday's was in the vice-y enclaves of the Old Blue Last, while tonight's (im back in Cambridge now, but my ears are ringing still!) was at a truly demented place outside Hoxton called the Hobby Horse.

in between we managed to get to the Monocle shop, Saville Row and Brick Lane, make repeated frozen yoghurt stops and visit the financial district, where we counted how many wideboys weren't wearing ties (lots, though there's a strong parallel trend towards bright red ties, too). good times, good times. for 48 hours, i was almost completely able to forget about tragedy, Walt Whitman and Soren Kierkegaard.

we were very kindly put up at the aunt and oncle's new place. its exactly the same as the old place, only a little bit narrower, and you get off at Balham instead of Clapham South. oh and on the walk to the station there's this truly amazing sign:

this poster was on a wall in Shoreditch (you can tell be the elaborate graffiti behind it). i really love the idea that in a massive stadium somewhere in London, once a month, people pay to see the guy with two croquet mallets fight the guy in the Athenian war helmet.

what's a trip to London without greasy spoon nosh? ok i never have, and most likely will never eat 'magnificent' sish kebabs or 'gorgeous' koftes with chips. but this place really did have style. i never got pictures, but inside the walls were covered in painted murals of pin-up girls and sailors, and in the background you could hear an episode of Eastenders playing at full blast, ostensibly on repeat all day. the proprietor and lone worker/chef/waiter was this middle-aged old cockney Turkish dude. i gather he made all the signs himself, too:

should you be in the mood for something more battered and exotic, theres always 'FKCF'. fried chicken! kebabs! FISH!!!!!!!

it took many tube stops and a bus, but we finally pitched up at the Hobby Horse a little after its scheduled start, only to find the band still soundchecking. so we ended up at 'THE RUSSIAN' for a short while. isnt the outside just magnificent? the inside was gammy and dark and staffed by monsyllabic authentic Russians. it looked like a strip club one might find on holiday in Crete.

when we eventually got in to the venue the ticket-collecting girl remembered us:) also they don't seem to ID anywhere in London, which accounts for the emo-ish jungvolk i saw up front at both gigs. the bar was decked out with a horse theme. rocking horses, a massive stuffed horse above the door, a model horse on stage, painted portraits of horses on the walls. odd, very odd, but also unpretentious and friendly.

the Ruffians turned out to be anything but. they're polite, wifebeater-wearing types with a fondness for Raekwon and WWF wrestling. they also have the best onstage rhythm and all-round good vibes i've ever seen. we saw them on the first dates of their European tour, and you could tell they were excited to be there. the set, including old and new songs (and two encores at teh Hobby Horse gig!), was amazingly, ridiculously polished. it's only live you realise how energetic their music is- way more old school rock'n'roll than i remembered, and with hilarious tinny jamaican keyboard lines. oh and lots of howling and shouting- their lead singer, who goes by Luke Lalond, has a voice that goes from scratchy blues to high-pitched whistling and harmonies in a matter of seconds. oh and the drums. wow. and their amazing blogging bassist. THEY'RE ALL GREAT! i'm still buzzing. brilliant, yar.

here are two dodgy videos, which probably won't nearly do them justice (the support act, Young Rivals from Canada, were also wundershowzen. they deserve to go big, or at least attain NME, Peaches Geldof-dating levels of fame). fun fun fun, and well worth leaving the books at home for.

oh but we go out at night...

ps. WE GOT A SHOUT-OUT! no joke. the Ruffians shouted us out. yay!

'and i'd rather be pushing flowers..than be up in the pen sharing showers..'

2010-05-11T00:51:00.005+02:00

such teeth!

oh Lil Wayne, my heart skips a beat every time you pen another of your fabulous (if ever-so-slightly sanctimonious) prison letters.

this latest one is for Mothers Day- it praises his assorted 'baby mommas' and his own mother (remember the '3-Peat' lyrics? 'and sure enough, i got her to a better place', etc etc...). in the tradition of Daniel O'Donnell, Fabio and that guy in the Arran sweater from Father Ted, gotta love a pin-up who is good to his mothre. even if it is just on visiting days at Rikers Island..

a cookie as big as the Ritz

2010-05-08T12:44:00.002+02:00

last night i got back just in time for the end of Tim's 21st birth-tag (he's genuinely old now, old enough to THINK INDEPENDENTLY ABOUT RUSSIAN SEMANTICS..). i missed the meal despite having rushed back through town, and after sixteen train stops and a day of adventures up and down the Central Line (taking in green tea fro-yo, Lacan and short story-writing, quince paste, Helvetica wallpaper and fashion blogging.. gosh it was a busy day, more on this soon!)

the party started at the St John's Chop-House, then decamped to Thompson's Lane. almost all of Tim's presents were food-related and marvellously inventive. the photo above is an enormous cookie- not really done justice by my camera, but its bigger than a dinner plate- and below you can make out the pop-up OTT card Beth found. the picture would be better had i not drunk a load of coffee to stay awake, and if the card itself maybe didnt have so many moving parts....:) its enormous and inspired, and i have no idea where one might find such things on sale.

it was a lovely laidback kind of night, involving head massages and attempts to burn the Pope. just what we all need right now in the middle of all this head-cramming.

reminds me of back when i used to go out, and actually had a life instead of a stack of books waiting to be read on my desk.

sigh.

two more weeks, dudes. two more weeks...

i can deal with leaving Cambridge, but i can't deal with losing the library

2010-05-03T08:50:00.001+02:00

it'll be hard paying for books again...

wish you were here, at Impington..

2010-05-02T11:42:00.004+02:00

when i started getting back pains from sitting at a desk all day i knew it was time for action. so this week has been all about the early-morning runs. i say runs, but really they're more half-runs, run out of breath and then walk the rest back. but on sunny days its been really nice, i just choose a direction and go with it out into the suburbs or along the river til i get tired. you get to see the un-collegey side of Cambridge that we usually ignore.

here i am somewhere along the river that i'd never seen before. somewhere north of 'Impington', and looking rather tired at this point..

and oh the sights i've seen; country roads, rowing races, multiple branches of Tesco. oh and the Green Party over here doesn't seem to be taken seriously. aside from this hand-written effort (pictured below), i've noticed other houses with tiny little posters stuck on tooth-picks, decorating their window boxes.

i suppose in politics every little helps, and their methods do have the appeal of being self-illustrating. though i'd say crazy Guy Fawkes dude's campaign is at least a bit more memorable:)

aside from that and all the usual study doom and gloom, here are SOME LINKS, DAHLINGS!

this guy is one year older than me and quite the hero..

these shoes are reduced to £40 (£36 with the student discount!), and though that still seems steep, and they're really more of a winter boot, im tempted, very tempted.

i'm locked in a library battle trying to understand this guy

having seen this tshirt online, i got intrigued by the Weezy quote and tracked down his second album. i found this fabulous video featuring a barely-tattooed Wayne, crappy production values and the lyric 'I got cake like everyday is my birthday'. BRING BACK THE MANNY FRESH! aah early-era Wayne.. legendary..

and finally

Nubby Twiglet always has really fascinating links, most often in typographical vein:) but yesterday she mentioned the British Pathé archives, and, WOW. a century of news footage, on anything, ANYTHING you can think of. useful for the visual culture paper, but also just endlessly distracting. this clip reporting the death of Marilyn Monroe was uber-interesting.

80% procrastination, 15% perspiration, 5% Pro Plus

2010-04-26T15:45:00.005+02:00

wow isnt it cool! maybe im just tired, the Sainsbury's Basics cola buzz has worn off and im starting to get distracted, but LOOK! the above is Dostoevsky's notes for Chapter 5 of The Brothers Karamazov.

Yes, it has nothing to do with anything (and Russian epics most certainly aren't on the Tragedy Paper.. or if they were, i wouldn't even try...). but i happened across a reference to it in an essay on the Bacchae, of all things, and found this picture on Wikipedia. it's somewhat heartening right now, amid the early term breakdowns, the 'exams' Facebook option (suspends your whole account, apparently), and the stacks and stacks of increasingly incomprehensible notes, to know that even literary geniuses make a mess. and out of it can emerge twelve volumes of greatness.

which i shall one day read. but not now. now, more Euripides.

ps. world, i'm not actually taking Pro-Plus. ARE YOU??

what the

2010-04-26T14:16:00.003+02:00

seedy internet RPGs are one thing.

picking up girls on forums is another.

furryism is another thing still.

but lemur-fetishist furry social networking? i'm not even going to try to make sense of that.

skillet bread

2010-04-23T22:44:00.003+02:00

and on the fifth day, in the ninth hour (literally like five minutes ago..), Roisin made bread in a pan, with minimal ingredients.

and it was good.

yesyes that was the simplest thing in the world! i found the recipe courtesy of the fat-free vegans. you just stir it all up with seasoning and pour into a non-stick pan. then, like with pancakes, wait til it raises at the edges and bubbles in the middle, and FLIP. yep, i genuinely flipped. and CAUGHT IT!

im so not the domesticated, cooker-safe type normally, though tonight, coming out of a speech from Jeffrey Archer at the Union (a regular right-wing HOOT!), i found myself suddenly up for a bit of stove-top experimentation. i wanted something half-way between a chapatti and a pancake. something carb-alicious but healthy. and that wouldnt take too much time or make much of a mess..it was yum, and twice as fast as that infamous student classic, microwave mug cake.

dunno. the thought of suddenly being cut loose next month, cooking, living, finding accomodation and new friends in the city.. its scary. more scary even than the part A exam questions which so far i've not even looked at.

i can't shake the feeling that we are staring into an abyss straight-on.

with only skillet-bread for comfort.

pretentious words not contained in the Open Office dictionary

2010-04-18T15:59:00.003+02:00

liminal

fratboy

Orbison

bar mitzvah

upscale

carbs

simulacra

Xanax

postmodern

deathzone

DeLillo

re-dye, the re-dux

2010-04-17T19:22:00.004+02:00

the following photograph aint edited, i've not turned up the colour. yes. after the third re-dye, i really am super-ginger now. and the furniture seems to have escaped, except for one spot on my carpet. hurray!

also behold the disco pants. bright and shiny and green. a third of the price of the American Apparel ones. much as i love them, but i lack the funds, ya know?:) anyhow these ones are very much in keeping with my mission this summer to dress as a Boogie Nights extra.

when the computer got taken into care yesterday (apparently there was a virus. the poor defenseless netbook!) i decided to take a day to wander around town for a bit, do Mill Road, buy lavash bread and dig through piles of tshirts in the League of Cats shop. then i ended up over at the Grafton Centre in the second Ark Vintage. hadn't known there was one. its like a smaller Avoca Handweavers only with more of a boudoir vibe, and is staffed by two girls in old cashmere who paint things in the back room. the prices all tend to under £30 for coats and dresses and cashmere, less for the vintage menswear, tweed suits and old team sweatshirts on the top floor.

dangerous, very dangerous.

oh yeah and the changes room. THE CHANGING ROOMS. wow.

it'll be a while, i'm sure, before i get back here. but maybe after exams i'll hit it up again. they have some amazing psychedelic stuff. also maybe jackets like this one (i don't normally approve anything Peaches Geldof-related, but shall express my approval this one time...)

every little helps

2010-04-16T00:53:00.003+02:00

and in yet another dispatch from library land (i do get out sometimes, i swear..)

DAVID CAMERON IS TARGETING SPARKNOTES READERS.

£1 per day, from the young? the very young, like school-age. i mean, i'm ashamed even to be on Sparknotes (though their guide to White Noise is so tempting and illuminating..:) ). but this kind of gets my guard up against what i had previously thought of as one of the better parties to vote for, this time around.

though i'm intent on taking advantage of my 'resident' (!) voting rights, its all bamboozling enough to make me give up hope. the local elections are only a week or two away, and i've yet to figure out who's worse, the inneffective flabby faced guy, or the smarmy noncommital babyfaced guy. and the papers seem to want me to judge based on their wives choices of designer shoes. bit of help here?

ps. on second thoughts, the Conservatives and Tesco probably share the same advertising agency. buy at least its not all cult-y/Communist-era style like this technicolor effort

my frank o'hara book has mould growing in it

2010-04-15T00:06:00.003+02:00

waaay too much time spent in the library. over the next few days we have the chance to write a Original Composition, if we like, to submit for the exams. its not obligatory and wont contribute mush to your average, but i feel guilty nonetheless for not having written anything. i've just been busy, working and procrastinating.

other than that i have been planning a new gammy art-centred blog project. i have decided to give Wetherspoons a second chance. i've been buying inordinate amounts of ball-point pens. and reading Dave Eggers has convinced me that if i ever want to write a novel, that you have to be self-interested enough to write 300 pages about your life, and skilled enough to make other people care. the objection i've always had to trying to write a novel is the issue of retaining interest; not even the readers interest, but my own. but maybe if you take the route of every first-time, relatively young author, and write something a little bit self-indulgent and sentimental, and most of all written all about yourself, then you become insured against ever losing focus. because to do so would be to lose focus on life. it seems the best way to consistently come up with material, and chances are, if someone is reading it, then they might identify with it too. kind of like blogging.

at least, A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius would have me think so, from what i've read so far. though i should really be deep in Aeschylus revision right now. oh dear.

a schizophrenic narrative

2010-04-11T14:53:00.003+02:00

oh my the posts have really taken a geeky turn for the worse these days. but to all my metafiction and schizonarrative-familiar readers, isnt the above just hilarious? i love it. Postmodernism; the trendy, sunglasses-wearing rebel at the literary theory party. or, you know, bookshelf. whatever, as long as its not I.A Richards i'm pleased.

in another facebook post, a day ago, i was raving about Derrida. i've yet to actually understand whats going on with 'trace theory' and 'encryption' (which is worrying, a little, as dissertations go in in eight days..). but doesn't he look dashing on his Wikipedia profile?:)

edit:

wait. according to the authors of the post, Guattari renounced the label 'postmodern' as 'the dying gasp of modernism. furthermore,

Rhizomatics thus constitutes a critique of totalizing logics, of systems that attempt to explain all things within one interpretive framework or hierarchical master code. To this critical end, they mounted a blistering critique of the Freudian and Marxist master narratives that ultimately limit the complexity of reality with their transcendent interpretations of human subjectivity and history. They opposed to these dominant, transcendent modes of interpretation an immanent mode of interpretation that acknowledges and prizes complexities.

oh god.

{third one down}

2010-04-07T15:43:00.003+02:00

Queens of the Stone Age 'Lullabies to Paralyze' has made it into the University Library, unlike the Joyce Carol Oates i was looking for when i came across this. evidence of Cambridge's Metal Brethren? they do have their own night at Kambar, after all. or it has something do with the tattooed librarian?

long live artifice

2010-04-06T22:00:00.004+02:00

how does one get one's hair this shade? i'm happy enough with the current plum-coloured mop, but still..

the dress, incidentally, is from Peter Jensen (evidently in his Alice in Wonderland phase) and it's not half bad either. kind of looks like something worn by a lifesize cut-out paperdoll, or a sewing machine mock-up. except made by a charming Danish designer and costing £156.

one day, all of this will belong to you

2010-04-06T08:25:00.002+02:00

oh Guttenplan, oh Guttenplan, what would we do without you?

floppy hair, shirt, sweater and a fierce enthusiasm for details about the life of WH Auden. yeah it doesn't really get more Cambridge than this.

definitely something to be proud of; its been a good week for us between these guys and matters boatie. something about the whole thing has me nostalgic for a place i've not even left yet. University Challenge is the perfect example of what its like over here, so Cambridge-y and collegiate it should lapse into parody, but somehow manages to convince. i mean, look at the picture above. once again, does it get any more Cambridge?? eek.

we are the embodiment of certain songs by Vampire Weekend. we are the writers of the dictionaries. we are the dreamers of the mathematical dreams.

oh dear.

friends of type

2010-04-02T18:31:00.003+02:00

this site is too too beautiful. prints and various experiments in poster type, the kind of stuff that one day i hope to decorate my tastefully minimal and eclectic living room with..(by then, of course, i will have graduated from glitter Jesus and Mary statuettes to full-on life sized statues salvaged from old churches..gawd yes..).

the one pictured is called 'Craving Type', for a food magazine by a guy working under the name 'Eric is Big Animal'. yeah i don't get that either, but the results are gorgeous.

other stuff:

dissertation-makers rejoice! this faceless internet machine will compile your bibliography!!

job search hmm i'm kind of interested..

aww this guy would make the best interview ever

im hacking my own DIY version of these

this video. a little bit Cronenberg, a little Royal Tenembaums. its really good.

a typographic joke

2010-04-02T03:28:00.001+02:00

this beats BBC's flying penguins hands down. even if April Fools is already over..

fashion bitching-themed April Fools, I LIKE!

2010-04-01T11:22:00.006+02:00

click here for more

(edit: damn you fashion indie, you may be 'indie' but you won't share your photos! click the link to see. its says that Christian Audigier has bought out their site:) )

oh yes and, i'm running away to Tijuana to become a gang tattoo artist. visa's gonna take too long, but i figure the crowd i'll be running with are above the law. screw exams. fight the system. FACE TATTOOS FOR ALL!!!

(if only, if only this were true)

'my watch so freakin icy i can't even tell the time..'

2010-04-01T03:05:00.005+02:00

everyone loves them a bit of Gucci Mane. except, it seems, that high court judge.

so i've been on a ghetto-fabulous bent this last while, and thought, what with the remains of my birthday money still quite plentiful, the time was high to buy myself some bling. grillz, perhaps? or a platinum diamond-encrusted Barbie nameplate necklace á la Nicki Minaj? (i worship this girl. seriously.)

but i really wouldn't have the guts, or the funds, for serious jewellery. and once you buy the grillz, you have to get a weave to match. maintenance might be tricky (we all know about Lil Wayne's dental troubles..)

so i thought i'd go down the LA starlet-endorsed delicate girly bling boutique brand route. Disney Couture are good- tacky and trashy but only sold in boutiques (and, randomly, one time i spotted some at Gatwick Airport, though i didn't buy. REMORSE.) eventually after much snooping around i found them sold on a few different websites- Karmaloop, SpoiledBrat.com and Ebay. tempting as it was to buy from the Brats, i got the Tinkerbell earrings for 75% off on Ebay, the sellers were super-nice and delivery took only 2 days. pretty fly.

you can't see from ze pic, but they're bambo shaped with tiny gold swarovski-studded fairies in em, and the word 'Believe' in each hoop. god now they sound convoluted. but, you know, BLINGTASTIC.

now my task is to find some occasion to wear them without looking like someone should 'cross my palm with silver'. hmm.

subject of vague chav-ness (am i allowed to say this? not especially polite. sorry..) these young dudes have taken up residence on the synagogue roof again. on Sundays, especially, but also during the week they descend like a Henleys-clad flock of Alfred Hitchcock's 'Birds'. I sit at my desk at the window and watch it happen; look up, there are two or three. Type for a bit. Look up again, duh-duh-duh they're ALL OVER THE ROOF.

what they do can't really be called Parcour. that would be doing Parcour-practisers a disservice. they get up on the roof and run about for a bit, every so often jumping. one or two of the springier-limbed ones have managed to scale the adjoining rooftop, but mostly they just run in weird circles like men in a prison yard. the only vaguely exciting aspect is that they happen to be doing it on a roof (and maybe annoying the Jewish folks underneath it).

three
SIX! (and more on their way..)

i've been watching The Inbetweeners again lately, and can't help but think this is something directly out of one of their plots. Neil (the gormless one) falls through the roof one evening and crashes a Bat Mitzvah taking place. He is taken under the wing of a kindly family who feed him matzo and ends up trying to get off with the daughter. meanwhile Will and Jay get in a fight with a rabbi.

or something.

ps. oh yeah, read all about 70s fashion -plus CHLOE SEVIGNY IN A TIGHT SWEATER- here. click it. oh go on..

sign and signifier

2010-03-29T10:40:00.003+02:00

last night Sophie and i were at the Zebra, a pub over near the Grafton Centre with a zebra stripe theme. i wrongly thought it was a gay club (possibly owing to the person in a wig belting out Queen covers at one point throughout the night). turns out the decor is due to there being a zebra crossing outside the door. and just because they're really into zebras.

ridiculous wall signs ahoy:

all very alehouse. all very Cambridge. i find myself wondering what would happen if you put the second one to the test; would you really get free drinks all night? or maybe just one or two? has anybody ever tried? May Week might be a good time; you could test it out then write up a report on it for the Tab..

and in keeping with the theme, a few days ago (last Thursday, you might be able to tell..) i picked up this little addition to the Thompson's Lane kitchen:

the best part about studying postmodernism

2010-03-26T19:21:00.004+01:00

...is finding odd stuff like this. at the end of Robert Scholes' Fabulation and Metafiction he speculates on future novels and reviews lots of contemporary 'experimental fiction', including Warhol's 1968 novel (which i mysteriously can't find on Amazon), called 'a'. hilarity follows.

As near as I can make out, the 451 pages in this volume were printed without correction from inaccurate transcriptions made by various typists from poorly recorded tapes, which in turn had been assembled by following one of Andy Warhol's friends around with a tape recorder. I have tried hard to read it all, and nearly succeeded. No words except those contained in the book can adequately convey the dullness of the experience... It purports to demonstrate the importance of 'ultimate realism'. I will add a few words of my own. First of all, the book is not important. It is not ultimate. It is not real. It is not even a failure, since nothing is really attempted. It is simply hours of dull conversation, haphazardly reported, sloppily typed, irresponsibly printed, and greedily published.

Reality -bless its heart- is not to be captured so easily; but we did not require a to make that discovery. The whole lesson of literary history is that reality is elusive, not to be caught in verbal traps except by the most powerfully imaginative writers- people who feel, think, care, and work. Warhol does none of this. His book is not a 'novel', and it is not by Andy Warhol. He has neither edited nor written it; he has merely marketed it. The tapes it purports to represent are censored, misunderstood fragments of talk among the pathetic creatures who inhabit Warhol's Underground. Tolkein's Hobbits have greater reality.'

oh Andy, i still love you. and your sparsely-written 'Philosophy' book, with its wisdom and its thinly-veiled Edie Sedgwick bitchfest. and that video with the hamburger. oh Andy. nobody rocks a fright wig quite like you..

'greed captures the essence of the evolutionary spirit'

2010-03-26T03:51:00.005+01:00

a line from the patron saint of pinstripes, Gordon Gekko (and we all recall his views on eating lunch...). there was a massive, wall-sized poster for this in the cinema on Parnell Street. all that darkness and hair gel made me rather giddy.

who'd like to join me when it comes out in April? we'll be deep in the exam mindset by then, of course, but i think that'll be quite compatible with the dog-eat-dog yuppie mentality promoted by Gekko and co.

and we have to dress up in suits. and bring brick-shaped phones. and... wow... this looks very promising. like how Shia has the modern update on pinstripes; grey, narrow-cut, skinny lapels.

Lucan royalty

2010-03-23T23:25:00.005+01:00

today we visited antiques-and-seedy-market district Fancis Street to check out Oxfam home, the €1 shops and the Simon Community charity shop. NCAD is only down the street so i gather most of the good stuff comes from the art students; i came home with a stack of recent-issue IDs, Elle catwalk reports and a copy of Nylon from last month. awww yeaaaaaaah.

but the real loot is to be found in those creepy super-cheap shops up Francis Street, the oversized pound shops (polyester leggings in baskets, a definite maybe..), the Asian supermarket and the east European bakery. oh and this amazing 'boutique', ahem, full of fake Gucci and Louis Vuitton. i'm so tempted; even if the leather is obviously not real and the name tag drops off, the blinged-out look is very much in keeping with my current Lego-brick/ seventies porn star fashion obsession (this is being carefully worked out in time for Summer, by which time i'll hopefully have acquaired some Terry Richardson seedy aviator glasses..). in a way, the faker the better, and for around the €30 mark a crazy oversized purple LV-print backpack (backpack, amazing I KNOW!!!) it seems a completely logical purchase.

oh and, some child on Easter Sunday is going to wake up to THIS hair-gelled splendour:

i like how one has a serious face. i bet it's 'Jed'.

also i walked by Molesworth Street, where a bomb scare had added to all the current media-grabbing Government passport troubles. a guard was streering everyone away in case there really was a bomb. and a little way down the street, next to the Murder Ink shop, it appeared that the Tardis had landed in Dublin. was it always there, and i just haven't noticed? or is it in some mysterious way RELATED? :)

sigh. i like Dublin. its been a really splendid couple of days. one last day, and possibly a concert tomorrow night, and then i'm off again.

shall miss you all, darlinks.

'AAA'

2010-03-21T21:09:00.003+01:00

due to a very random and fortuitous meeting at Spy on Friday, yesterday Kyle and Dave and i ended up bopping tastefully along on the balcony to psychedelic guitars and lines about picking insects off plants with no time for consequences (etc etc..) at the Academy. most kind of them, really:)

now i can't get the 'ACAD' stamp off my hand. beats the Magdalene bop's 'SEXUAL HEALTH AWARENESS' stamp, still. also the passes are so pretty. burly security dude kept telling us to stick them on our legs, but it seemed too visually nice to do that with.

behold:

other than that, am enjoying my time back in the Old Country, seeing folks i rarely get to see, wandering dazedly around Dublin, buying too much stuff in Rathmines charity shops, taking full advantage of the soda bread and sewing machine. talking about typography with taxi drivers (wow that was splendidly alliterative..). i brought back a stack of meta-books and Borges from the UL, but since getting here i've been pretending my dissertation doesn't exist. terminally chill.

oh and, they don't have Dunnes in Cambridge. so if i buy these shoes, no-one will ever know that they cost less than ten euro. they look like something from the set of The House Bunny. but kind of, in a trashy, good way.

tempting, very.

ps. a free documentary about Marilyn Monroe, rather great, has me thinking i want to do something around her for the visual culture paper..WATCH!

when your hair colour is wholly against nature

2010-03-18T11:19:00.001+01:00

...this is surely the best way to pick out an outfit:)

(from http://www.colorschemer.com/online.html)

going home again, the redux

2010-03-17T23:05:00.004+01:00

soo in the end its been shortened by two weeks, i get to catch up with folks and then return to the dark of the library over here. actually couldn't be happier with this state of arrangements; its my last chance before exams to take it easy and revise/complete the remaining Flann work at a reasonable pace while still getting time off. also, you can already tell that by the time we're back it will be SUMMER IN CAMBRIDGE. yarr. most definitely. the walk through St Johns takes you away from columns of spanish mini-tourists (ALREADY??!) and along rows of sunlit stain-glass trees and lilacs all over the grass. its quiet and warm and the only other life about is that duck in the picture above.

i've been spending loads of time, probably too much time in the UL lately. it's only this year i've really started exploring the poke-ier corridors and using the terrifying 1960s lift to track down books on the third floor of the North Wing (sinister but worth it- it's the cinema section). i'm trying to work out if it's worth taking some stuff over with me to Ireland- you get two weeks loan but the books can be recalled at any time. fines can occur. consequences most dire. is Oulipo, A Primer really worth it?:)

meantime there's packing to be done. here and here and here are some links to articles from over the last week or so. i'm gonna go back now to folding clothes and singing along to Kid Cudi..

soya never looked so good

2010-03-14T23:02:00.003+01:00

another quick, quick post (yaaay blog mojo has returned!! this must be a sign..) to say

1. HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY (directed at my own dear mothre)

and

2. dear mother, you should really really look into making these

and maybe these too:

the images are all from Bjorkedoff, which has got to be one of my favourite Vegans-in-Portland-who-bake-but-are-ridiculously-skinny blogs (there are so many of these. some of them are rockabillys. many of them have vegan-themed tattoos). to justify all those food-porn pictures, she also writes beautifully about life as a student (now in NY) and her obsession with Stumptown espressos. and she draws, amazingly- see the banana peel in pen and ink, pictured below.

this is turning into a fangirl post: CHECK OUT THIS SITE! RIGHT NOW!!

only shortcoming: no recipes, for anyone who wants to try at home (furthermore, i think soya pudding and rice syrup might be a little hard to come by outside of Williamsburg..) but still, very much worth checking out as a peek into someone interesting's life and for baking inspiration.
all for now, back to the DeLillo.

going home again

2010-03-14T22:29:00.004+01:00

Tim had so many that his sister had to take the train!

its always worrying when the blog shifts off that page with my six most-visited sites on Google Chrome... for a variety of reasons, i just haven't written much lately. not that there's been nothing worth writing about, quite the opposite, but i wanted to keep my head low and just..hmm.. enjoy everything as it happened instead of documenting it:)

but there are loads of pictures, from my birthday, several other parties/nights out, various odd events over the last week.. stilt-walking clown professors were invented. corsets with flashing lights were worn (and photographed!). we saw a grotesque film about a rough-housing cartoon cat. we ate a lot of pizza. we explored the inside of my wardrobe.

lolz abounded.

and i got most of it on camera, and will try to post some in the next few days..

meantime, the hausvolk both went home today, leaving me and E. Plunkett alone. so im being domestic and taking the first night off in a while to just chill out doing nothing. this means:

baking bread (the whole house smells of it!), making rice with pickles, lots and lots of coffee. films, painting of toenails and possible re-dyeing of hair. also possibly watching Jersey Shore, if i'm feeling especially trashy (you know, for hair dyeing tips..:/), planning out my dissertation work for the next few days, and reading the already-amazing (by page 12!) White Noise by Don DeLillo. lots of scenes set in Walmart and on college campuses devoted to 'Hitler Studies'. its all good.

(ps. the 'going home again' should be followed by a question mark; i don't know for sure if i'm going home or not! who is around, on either side of the pond??! let me know on Facebook or somesuch, as not really certain as of yet..)

domestic damage

2010-03-09T09:18:00.002+01:00

cutest vases ever? (via swissmiss)

i just woke up, am ferociously hungry and debating whether or not to go to the shop and buy bagel-related goods. but other than that, all faculties intact. pictures to follow off of Sophie's camera and various parts of Facebook.

i hope everyone had a nice time:)

observations

-one pair black geek-esque glasses

-one camera

-door WIDE OPEN. only in Cambridge could you fall asleep with this and wake up with nothing gone. christ, won't let that happen again..:/

-i have acquired a splendid set of metal Viking cups. THANKYOUUU!

-bottles everywhere

-worse, CRACKERS everywhere. no idea why.

-there are empty cups in unexpected parts of my room all over the place. like inside my wardrobe, behind books on my shelves and hidden where all my shoes are..

-all the Southern Fraaaahd Chicken y'all is gone. good:)

day of the bling

2010-03-08T14:17:00.001+01:00

a good luck (via whatthellz.com)

gotta sort out my party outfit. it shall all be good:)

2010-03-07T13:03:00.002+01:00

is this perhaps the best 'What is James Wearing?' of all time, ever? i'm thinking so

pink Japanese sweets! look and (i'm certain) taste good too

should i spend some birthday money the sensible way? or the not-sensible way..

last night's post-party viewing. everyone should see this. it's goooooood. gave me odd dreams, but so very entertaining:)

and finally, upcoming IndieSoc Battle of ze bands to be held here on the 11th, has me reaching for THIS

also thank you thank you to so many nice people who wished me a happy birthday! wish i could see Irish folks too:( i'm gonna meet up with some peoples now, and then, tomorrow, comes the epic rap party. til then, my dears, til then..

i went to London and all i got was this unitard

2010-03-05T19:43:00.007+01:00

NEVER has there been a less appealing piece of clothes jargon.

but hey, American Apparel would have you know they can be called 'bodysuits' or, um, 'onesies'.

i only lasted a day trailing around Londres, then gave up and went back to Cambridge and my books, my books.. the sourface bull dogs are from a shop window, i found them unexpectedly hilarious. but it all just seemed too tiring... i think its the anticlimactic end-of-term sense of doom, the sudden void and all the free time- where is my essay? where is my LIFE??

hehe it wasn't that bad.. in fact i picked up some other interesting things, got to see my favourite spots, try on shoes and stalk interesting haircuts, ride the Northern Line, drink Monmouth coffee (apparently the best in London- yeah it was really nice:) you sit on a wooden bench and drink it straight, a 'long shot', then feel the caffeinated calm wash over you, then have it shattered when a few hundred teenaged Spanish tourists flock by..).

oh yeah and these jeans. ten pounds. they are worth that alone in shredding.

so right now i'm planning my birthday party (playlist- nothing but rap. seriously. No Ceilings baby!) and also wondering if i can eke another trial download out of Virtual DJ in time for the IndieSoc thing on the 11th. so that i can inflict Beastie Boys on the ears of all and sundry. hell yes.

oh yeah and LOOK ALL HERE Y'ALL, hair WIN!!!

semi-permanent, Loreal shizzle. because twenty minutes with a paste on your head (plus twenty more trying to clean up all that mess) is WORTH IT!

i might even be brave and go permanent next time. definitely happy to be back to my Viking roots.

(yes well excuse the bad grainy pose-y hyper-orange pictures. its just that i'm so damn ORANGE. and can't really work the Microsoft Photobooth equivalent. anyways..!)

hair dye FAIL

2010-02-28T16:43:00.006+01:00

it takes roughly three hours or more, a chunk of money and an appointment in advance to get your hair dyed at a salon. though i have always been of the DIY persuasion, its never really extended to hair colour. until now..

DUH DUH DUH!!!!!!

actually nothing too radical happened. i was bored and seized by the pre-birthday anxiety that i'm not nearly adventurous with my limited time on this earth. as in, i should have had black hair by now. everyone deserves an emo phase, though most get it out of the way by their early teens.

also, almost exactly a year ago, i brought a photograph of Bettie Page to the hairdressers and asked for her fringe. so why not go the whole way and get the colour too?

but then the next morning, after this rather drastic thought has so seized me, i looked up hair blogs (yes, hair blogs do really exist) and figured it might be hazardous to go straight to black, that i might get some kind of weird mash-up of inky dark dye and my current reddish colour, and end up looking a ginger mess. ginger, as in said to rhyme with 'minger'. all-around bad..

so i thought i'd use a semi-permanent dye somewhere in between; i bought a wash-in mahogany one. it said leave on 5-10 minutes. i left it on for twenty, feeling follicularily brave.

the result:

NADA. hair is pretty much exactly the same.

ick!

i guess it wanted it super-vivid, like Julianne Moore in Boogie Nights.

or perhaps a lovely mahogany shade like when she was Maude Lebowski..

i could have worn a Viking Hat with such aplomb. FAIL.

leave it to the professionals? think so. sorry to write a blog about my hair. but, you know, i've no urgent deadlines, no meaning in my life:)

what a glorious feeling...

2010-02-27T21:29:00.003+01:00

...i'm happy again!

so things have slowed down significantly. i've yet to go back to sleeping normal hours but at the very least its not due to urgent impending essay deadlines. hurray all round. WAHEY. and that.

so now i get to watch a few films and maybe even MAKE something. oh and read DeLillo. and apply for jobs. and go to London. and plan a birthday party. and OHITSALLSOOVERWHELMING. i have my life back. YAY!

film list, (to be watched when there is time on one's hands):

1. The Searchers

because i need to get acquainted with cowboy films, and this looks like the most intelligent one. firstly because of the film paper. secondly because of the american paper. and thirdly because Flann O'Brien takes the piss out of them many, many times.

2. Notorious

not exactly Kim-endorsed (and i'm not a Faith Hill fan, not one bit) but it looks intriguing. wonder if Tupac (aka Saint Shakur, patron saint of misguided teen boys) comes off looking worse in it?

3. Lala Pipo ('Lots of People')

i saw this on sale in Fopp today, am rather tempted by its day-glo cover and all-around oddness. it's made by the guy who made 'Kamikaze Girls'. a friendly quirky family film. except that its about porn.

4. Singin in the Rain

because this is about everything. and somehow, over the years of christmas midday showings, i missed out on ever seeing it.

always a good thing when watching tap dancing counts as 'study':)

l'ennui

2010-02-25T09:17:00.005+01:00

oh dear. back to work work work.

Walt Whitman and his ilk; its not that i'm not mad about his work (it's AMAZING, actually!), but there are only so many hours i can work before i start to fall asleep...

it's so the middle of term, i'm sure anyone reading will empathize (isn't this what MIDTERMS are for?!! if only, if only..)

here are a few scratchings from my favourite desk:

there's another marvellous one about Oxford, but it's a little bit obscene.

ps. for fantastic article about Gaga-branding, click here

for my thoughts on combat trousers, click here

and for a yet more fascinating article about how to make ricotta in a microwave in less than five minutes, i think everyone ought to click here

noli me tangere

2010-02-23T02:58:00.006+01:00

it's really, really hard to see but on the Daily Mail showbiz page (um..'research'..yes, um, for my...Visual Culture paper..) they have stories about Kerry Katona- lifting weights, at what i presume to be fat camp'-, Angelina Jolie and what appears to be a botched facelift, Denise Van Outen on her baby weight, and then, right in between, 'PROOF that Anne Boleyn WAS an adulteress: The new poem that reveals all'.

because it's never too late.. the witch! OFF WITH HER HEAD!!

(hoping it's not the Wyatt poem they're alluding to, since it's already been speculated on for years and is hackneyed as all hell. any Engling readers, i'm sure, will empathize as fellow survivors of the Renaissance paper..)

Libertad! Igualdad! Fraternidad!

2010-02-20T02:58:00.006+01:00

i love it when somebody writes something directly corresponding to your view of the world. it fulfils the very purpose of writing, especially prose writing; to remind you that you're not at all alone in the world, or even alone in your thoughts.

i like to think of that as the real cause behind literature. aside from all the political stuff, the personal motives, the experimentations with form... all the headachey analysis the last two-and-a-half years has taught me, and that is the main reason i don't often read for pleasure anymore.

Jonathan Safran Foer is one of those authors who defies that. he writes honestly and sensitively about Important Things. but usually he writes with a sense of humour. case in point, this article. its about growing up, falling in and out of vegetarianism, learning to be pretentious and philosophical in college, then being real again once you graduate.

oh and pushy American grandmothers feature, also.

maybe i'm gushing a bit. you got me on a gushy kind of day. in six hours i'm setting off home for the weekend(can't wait can't wait!) but in the meantime the reading i had to do today was bizarrely, AMAAAAZINGLY compelling. i started with Walt Whitman, then that led to William Carlos Williams, and this led back to the subject of pushy American grandmothers..

drink it in..

DEDICATION FOR A PLOT OF GROUND

This plot of ground

facing the waters of this inlet

is dedicated to the living presence of

Emily Dickinson Wellcome

who was born in England; married;

lost her husband and with

her five year old son

sailed for New York in a two-master;

was driven to the Azores;

ran adrift on Fire Island shoal,

met her second husband

in a Brooklyn boarding house,

went with him to Puerto Rico

bore three more children, lost

her second husband, lived hard

for eight years in St. Thomas,

Puerto Rico, San Domingo, followed

the oldest son to New York,

lost her daughter, lost her "baby,"

seized the two boys of

the oldest son by the second marriage

mothered them—they being

motherless—fought for them

against the other grandmother

and the aunts, brought them here

summer after summer, defended

herself here against thieves,

storms, sun, fire,

against flies, against girls

that came smelling about, against

drought, against weeds, storm-tides,

neighbors, weasels that stole her chickens,

against the weakness of her own hands,

against the growing strength of

the boys, against wind, against

the stones, against trespassers,

against rents, against her own mind.

She grubbed this earth with her own hands,

domineered over this grass plot,

blackguarded her oldest son

into buying it, lived here fifteen years,

attained a final loneliness and—

If you can bring nothing to this place

but your carcass, keep out.

how we like our Pete Wentzes

2010-02-18T08:33:00.001+01:00

who knew he has a fashion line?!

god bless English bureaucracry

2010-02-14T21:17:00.003+01:00

(from SwissMiss, best design site ever!)

i created sourdough

2010-02-13T18:34:00.006+01:00

a few things i've been up to lately, in-between trying to piece together various essays and oversleeping woefully late..

last night several of us went along the the Shop on Jesus Lane, where the Mays (Cambridge poetry magazine thing..) were running a night. the premise was that poets and musicians did a trade, so that the end results was a poem reinterpreted to music. there were several amazingly good ones, and a few nondescript mumbly singer-songwriter types (alright, i'm being mean..actually the standard was amazing!). also lots of people in the audience with knitwear and interesting haircuts, which is always a plus.

after this i'm actually rather enthused about getting back into creative writing. last night reminded me you can write poetry even if you don't remember what words like 'anaphora' and 'palimpsest' mean. although, as an English student, i'd never admit to that..:) also, after doing standup last term and the one before, standing in front of a crowd reading poetry doesn't seem half as scary. hmm. when there's time..

oh yes and look look! couldn't help but feel proud seeing a poster i designed up with the other various ones for plays and commemoratory lectures. major thanks to Sophie for running all over town on a stormy day to get them all stuck up. the night itself is on the 23rd at Clare Cellars, probably my favourite venue in Cambridge due to it's spooky catacomb-style ceilings. the Magdalene bar just can't compare, alas:/

THE RE-BREADENING

you might recall last time how i came over all maternal having created a successful loaf. Bread-child the Second was a little more experimental; a basic white mix with vanilla yoghurt blended in. dunno if that sounds disgusting or not, but i was pleased with the results. its always a bit of a gamble throwing stuff into the machine, then waiting to see if it sinks or rises. what came out was a medium-sized rounded loaf, not sunken but squishy, very light and open-crumbed and with a lovely sourdough kick to it. the yoghurt wasn't overbearingly sweet, and there weren't any eggs in it so it avoided being some kind of bastardized cake creation, for want of a better term:)

bread close-ups. mmmm.

bread. oh yes.

better go do some work now.

enfant terrible

2010-02-12T02:15:00.006+01:00

this is really, really sad. i like to think the reason McQueen killed himself was the same reason temperamental, creative, rare and flighty and artistic types always have for doing such things. people like Isabella Blow, who inhabit a different, highly dramatic world far more colorful than our ordinary one, where everyone smells of patchouli and never ever wears flat shoes.

or maybe he was just depressed. we're never really going to know.

either way he's going to leave one hell of a void in the fashion world. i remember growing up reading about the 'Bumster' trousers, and being at first genuinely shocked by someone who'd do something so mad. and then when i got a bit older and started to read Vogue, i remember realising how out there, and yet how technically brilliant his catwalk collections and his ready-to-wear stuff really was.

Alexander McQueen always set the standard as a genuinely great fashion talent, one who could almost supernaturally create both couture fantasy clothing (see Daphne Guinness, or that Lady Gaga video..) and the ideal, old-school tailored suit. add to that his quintessential Britishness; the traditional crafting that went into his suits, but the kind of punk attitude and radical courage
that gave everything he did a sense of fun. even his diffusion line, McQ, had a style all its own. i loved the rockabilly jeans and 1950s style shirts they sold. and his amazing, exquisite line of handbags, which seemed made to look like props from a Hitchcock film. i do hope somebody takes the reigns of these various lines, even if they're only ever half as inspired.

four Christmases ago, i was very, very lucky to be bought a McQueen skirt which had somehow found its way into a secondhand shop in Ranelagh. it's like nothing else i own; high-dramatic, sweeping, swooshy, extraordinarily full and graduated with a ruffled hem. i used to wear it in sixth year at the Tute, creeping out the Abercrombie and Fitch devotees. its like something a vampire would wear to her wedding.

elegant goth is a style McQueen perfected, so i suppose it seems fitting he came to such a gloomy end. still, Katherine Hamnett is very much right, his death is a terrible and tragic waste.

pick your act up, boy and hustle harder/ this this this this this..this is the Carter people!!

2010-02-10T03:12:00.007+01:00

weird that i find inspiration in the fact that Lil Wayne was working the night before he turned himself in? yes. kind of. i have yet to watch the epic hour-long video stream where he says goodbye to his fans, but..wow. in comparison to his seven albums, countless mixtapes and a record label, this last few days' work seems like small fry. but its been a busy one. work included

-three essays in the space of two days

-three articles today, another one last week (and another one to be written tonight..)

-a feature length interview (still not finished either, eek)

-6500 words of the Flann dissertation

-a photoshop poster

..and a bit of blogging in between:)

BUT

today two marvellous and momentous things happened. (one) is that they came and fixed the heating, so we no longer wake up with numb feet and have to wear furry hats indoors and walk around with hot water bottles like a girl with constant menstrual cramps (no disrespect, my dear Sophie and Tim. i do all of the above things..!)

and (two), i got out. got to see people and just, generally, shoot the breeze at Dereks 21st birthday party at the Castle. the Castle is a bar and restaurant up the hill; we sort of cleaned them out for spare ribs, then headed over to Westminster Hall which is fairly nearby.

and then the fun started.

(hehe i love how Liam is like this incredibly dazed-looking guide throughout all my photos. it looks very cheesy. it was cheesy! other than that, i think the pictures all speak for themselves..)

in the forest/ we are hiding/ unmarked graves with flowers strewn

2010-02-05T15:40:00.005+01:00

urgh, so busy, i got 99 things to do today. at least.
this is the first attempt at a poster for an upcoming fundraising gig i'm helping a bit with.
what y'all think? i wanted it to be colorful and pleasing to look at, but not tasteless. trashy and kitsch is my default option, but might not be so appropriate given the cause..:)

ps. subject of trashy, yeah i know, forward slashes are so hack! also 'Luke Barbanneau Soundsystems' does not exist, but i think he'll be DJ-ing so i thought it would be best leave some space for his name.

dress like Superman

2010-02-03T19:41:00.003+01:00

capes? no. masks? no. geeky specs? hellz no.

underwear as outerwear? YES!

y'all can read my Fashion Wednesday post on it over here

(oh and yes, that is Scarlett Johansson in the picture above)

(before i post some London pictures...)

2010-02-01T10:10:00.003+01:00

i'm on a roll bitching about dressed-up famous people!

the Grammy Awards were seemingly last night, they popped up all over the papers this morning with a lineup of yummy-looking famous folk. and then there was Britney. here are some dresses that really made me look/put me off my breakfast cereal..

ok for starters Britney did the 'visible underwear' look, really really badly. i think if it had been even a size bigger the dress might have worked. perhaps we have a case of the Mariah Careys, where Britney's assistant have to take out the clothes labels and sew in smaller sizes t deceive her..

you know things aren't going well when even Fergie looks better than you..

hell, Miley Cyrus looks best of all! Balmain for kids, anyone?

if only La Swift wasn't so conservative. she looks so uncomfortable, its like, 'hmm, am i allowed to show some collarbone? am i allowed to admit i'm dating one third of the Jonas Brothers..?'

i think Katy Perry has the best look of the night. it's very tongue-in-cheek, Bettie Page with the hair, and the dress is young but rather dignified too. thisis the kind of thing i love about Grammys dressing- the stars dress up but its not as serious and po-faced as the Oscars

oh yes and of course Gaga nailed it, by looking, in the words of some Daily Mail journalist, as though she 'came from another planet'. Gaga is a whole other solar system..

must try harder

2010-01-28T18:54:00.002+01:00

you should be looking guilty, Paloma Faith. we've seen this somewhere before.

GET YO OWN STYLE! Allison Goldfrapp is watching you..

do Ryanair give frequent-flyer discounts?

2010-01-27T21:09:00.005+01:00

hmm perhaps i should do some explaining, for anyone here via Facebook and wondering why i was mysteriously back in Dublin for a day or two, then was gone again. sorry i didn't get to see many folks, i promise to stay in touch and be chat-able or Skype-able in the early hours, whenever you like! i came home for my Grandmother's funeral. it was a sad event, one i feel odd even writing about here, but it was hard not to agree that 94 is a marvellous number of years to be alive. as we walked into the church at the removal, Emmet commented 'its odd to think that this is the first day since 1916 that she's not been alive', words which have stuck in my mind. it's mind-blowing to take count of the changes Grandma saw in her lifetime, and all the people who wouldn't exist and wouldn't have been there to celebrate her life had she not existed. i think it was a really great day, in terms of funerals at least, and i think we all did her proud (even the slightly bewildered woman who droned along with Ag Chriost an tSiol, she MADE it, in my opinion..).

so now i'm back trying to catch up on missed work, reading about the Leviathon and Henry James on the Yiddish Quarter in New York (The American Scene, so much more interesting than i ever gave the author of The Ambassadors credit for). anyways, thanks to all relatives who did a marvellous job on Saturday and Sunday, it was great to see everyone and catch up, and i think we really did Grandma proud.

a conglomeration of Kiberds

someone to hear your prayers/ someone who cares

2010-01-23T12:49:00.002+01:00

these disco relics appeared in Paperchase back in November, but i forgot all about them because who really needs a neon Jesus anyhow? but a day ago i walked by the window and saw them on sale- £1 each! AND they have coin slots in their backs. so wonderful. so now they're on my mantelpiece, next to the ominous cross-stitch and the cuckoo clock. a few more trips to the Mill Road, and hopefully i'll find a Ganesh or a Buddha to keep them company.

is this the most beautiful online magazine of all time, ever?

2010-01-22T10:58:00.002+01:00

drink it in:) it's called Neue magazine, but just consists of pictures and art and.. wow.

2010-01-20T06:08:00.002+01:00

a few things i'm obsessing over.. (and yes, it is 5.13 in the morning. college and caffeine addiction seems to have made me nocturnal...)

this incredibly interesting interview on Junior- on my blog roll, to the right!!- with Victor and Spoils agency and befuckingawesome.com's Evan Fry. i would dismiss him as a shallow design-hipster-type except that he seems to be genuinely mad. especially his approach to self-promotion for freelancers; take a look, anyone with aspirations of that kind.

also his recommended reading, Grammar for Journalists

Notcot another lifestyle blog i'd never heard of, full of interesting procrastination-friendly links

Google Chrome weird. i'm currently using it instead of the familiar FIrefox on the new netbook, not really made my mind up yet, though it does feature a really lovely array of themes including Kate Spade octopus-print and American Apparel:)

Georgia Bush collective groan, this is the most out-of-date thing i've possibly ever posted, but Dedication 2 is on a loop on my MP3, 25 songs long but this is the best payoff ever as a final track. it blows Bomb over Baghdad out of the water, likewise all the Flaming Lips anti-Bush stuff. makes me wish the subject wasn't so unfashionable now, but the song still stands as amazing.

a guide to life as a university lab rat

2010-01-17T12:53:00.004+01:00

so every so often a notice pops up on the Magdalene news email or the English Faculty mailing list or whatever, asking for volunteers to take part in a science student's finals project as test subjects. i used to not give them a second look but this year, with thoughts of 'you're only in university so long' ringing in my head, i decided to sample their kooky thrills.

last term this meant taking part in a linguistics study. i sat in a booth for about half an hour listening to the voices of Indian people, then Italian people, then Indian people talking over Italian people, then a solitary voice with BBC pronounciation, reading sentences such as 'When Robert approached the fence, the kittens took fright and ran away'. words can't describe how strange the whole thing was. then at the end the Swiss lady running the experiment handed me a ten pound note and i went on my way. strange but easy work.

today, as you can see, things got a little more hands-on. i didn't think much about it dropping the guy an email, but i had signed myself up to be part of an exercise in Experimental Psychology. i met Terrence, the guy running the experiments, and he asked first of all if i was alright with 'some mild electrical shocks', and secondly if i was afraid of spiders. i don't have much of a problem with either, but it was a little unsettling to hear before anything had happened yet..

soo i ended up for about an hour in yet another booth, this time fixed up with pads taped onto my fingertips (to monitor my pulse rate and thus my FEAR!!!!), in front of a screen flashing a slideshow of 'shocking spider pictures' á la Clockwork Orange. the only thing driving my pulse rate up was the momentary fits of giggles.
the snaps depict my lovely Matrix-style metal skin stickers:

the images themselves were utterly unscary. and interminable; i found myself falling asleep after a short while, even with the mild shocks running down one arm. maybe some people are arachnophobic (though why the hell would they be?) but i've always just thought spiders were gorgeous and spindly and spooky and amazing. also perfectly symmetrical, like many interesting insects. so the pictures didn't have much of an effect.
stuff like this..

and this..

and this..

and maybe even this..

another odd experience. i do recommend doing these studies to any bored person who'd like lumps of cash for the endurance of sitting still for a while, although taking things further and becoming one of those proper guinea pigs for a medical company is inadvisable. chemical testing just seems sinister and reckless, and the side effects might well stay with you past your college days.
electric shocks only last a second. a third ear is for life.

'yeah but what are the specs?'

2010-01-16T12:17:00.005+01:00

you join me at a momentous event in my life as a minor electricals nerd. as of today i am no longer a slave toa slowly-dying, forever crashing, broken-fan-buzzing Sony Vaio. instead i will use have handbag-sized, streamlined, encased in a glossy black shell.. i will be silent yet well-cooled, subtly backlit in power-saving mode.. oh and i will run on lovely new Windows 7, and browse with Google Chrome..

yeaaah i went and bought a netbook, FINALLY. and it's sort of gone to my head. but the liliputian laptop ('laptot', some sites are calling them) is just so damn beautiful. battery life is up to 9 hours, and the keys are so spotless and the shell is so gorgeously glossy, it makes me afraid to eat cereal anywhere in direct vicinity. or even put it down directly on my desk.

there was going to be an elaborate 'unboxing' video but i realised that its just creepy and excessive, the up-skirt photography of the laptop world. so here are pictures, though they give little clue to its exquisitely small scale. wow i'm smitten. i promise, oh new mini computer, to polish you with rubbing alcohol and always run anti-virus software, and i won't download dodgy torrents onto you, and love you forever and ever and ever (or at least til MacBooks become more affordable..)

Antichrist Advertising Blues

2010-01-12T21:39:00.005+01:00

is it me or is this just about the most rubbish cover they could have picked for Lars Von Trier's Antichrist?

there were so many to pick from, all artistically interesting and still on-topic as an advert for the film. it NOT a straight-up horror involving scissors, in the mode of the Saw franchise. Nor is it all that 'twisted, depraved and troubling'. The cover the company selected just plays up to all those outraged, two-dimensional reviews. I'm not even all that into shock/schlock kind of films (anyone who's heard me rant about Funny Games will be well aware..) but I genuinely believe Antichrist had a lot more going for it than that one scene involving an encounter with a scissors.

check out all these lovely alternatives:

the film itself had so many moments of beauty in it, stuff like this (ps. the dress on Gainsbourg is available at H&M, i know because Sibéal has it!!).

epicly later'd

2010-01-09T23:33:00.005+01:00

a little before 10am this morning i found myself staring out of the €6 airport bus at this mural at Busáras. we'd just about managed to drive into town, clear the snow off the windscreen and stop from slipping. my flight was closing at 11.25, i got out with an hour to spare.

the airport was how i imagine the stock market to be on a busy day, crossed with the Arnotts January sale just after Jedward have left the building.. lots of red-faced people with funny accents looking for someone in blue uniform to vent at. massive trails of luggage blocking up the hall. and nowhere near enough staff to deal with it all.

most of the board was lit up red with 'CANCELLED', but my flight to Stansted was apparently still on so i queued up and a girl who looked 16 and had been there since 3am sent my suitcase through. more queuing, then i got through to Departures. another screen, now saying that the flight had been cancelled after all.
the iceman cometh.

soo i'm here until Monday afternoon now, flight replaced for free, but sad that i'll miss out on the first bit of Lent-term fun. hope everyone else getting back to college (or going away.. Stockholm, anyone:)?) is alright, on roads or navigating the horrible crowded airports.
bloody ell, even the Luas is going slowly. or not at all. the brothre and i went to see a film, and town looked like it was covered in caster sugar. or maybe i'm just hungry and seeing things that way..

2010-01-07T23:51:00.005+01:00

every time i set out to research something official, or just looking at computer sites -hello Netbook porn!- i end up collecting a zillion links i want to share with anyone reading this. of course it's good when it's for a proper cause- Threads page for February is now done and dusted, after much aimless surfing- but i suppose i should really go back to the old Flann O'Brien sooner or later. anyways, here are some distracting clicks for anyone put off going out by the snow and ice and GOVERNMENTAL LACK OF GRIT (oh my god, they're running low on sand, WHATEVER SHALL WE DO!!!)

stickers and stuff this unpromisingly-named site is a hub of all things distracting and fascinating. i miss my crafty exploits; there's a round-up of free downloads, craft suppliers, Japanese design brands,interesting advertisers, Etsy sellers, MY GOD, TOO TOO MUCH COOL STUFF!

This is Not a Movie Poster why is it that the scrapped posters all look that little bit more interesting? loads of promo that might have been, much of it rather artistic and alternative by Hollywood standards.

Cash Moni i like this LA girl's mix of hip-hop and fashwan. evidently she shares the Lil Wayne love, major kudos in my book:)

a second attempt

2010-01-07T04:18:00.002+01:00

Wordpress you are wunderbar, but so difficult to get headers to fit for!!!!!

oh Ryanair please be kind!

2010-01-06T02:06:00.003+01:00

almost almost ready to go, provided the flights are going and they let me on board with a suitcase this gigantic. though i limited myself to three pairs of shoes (high tops, I'm bringing them back!!!). most of the weight is folders and Flann O'Brien-related stuff, not too many clothes (its always odd going through a wardrobe and realising most of what you wear is black!)

Perhaps i should make a sacrifice to the weight-distribution gods, just to be sure..

Facebook tells me most of you Cantabridgian folks are back around the 9th, same as me, yay! the work-nazi in me can't wait to get back into the routine. though there's still lots of fun left to be had in Dublin, this last few days. also i'll be stopping off in London, hopefully, on the way down.

planned trajectory:
Saturday: fly in, drop off suitcase, say yo to the relatives and go wandering in Soho
Sunday: Brick Lane, Sunday UpMarket, bagels, more bagels, catch a bus or a train and pick up key by that night.
SEE Y'ALL SOON, FOLKS!

When I Grow Up..

2010-01-03T05:07:00.003+01:00

this photograph from the Oliver Peoples campaign is making me want to go full-on ginger again (pronounced to rhyme with 'minger', hehe!)

Shirley Manson. the best thing about anything to do with Terminator:)

all my New Years pictures turned out messy

2010-01-01T23:51:00.004+01:00

strike that

New Years itself turned out messy.
but it was good before the bell tolled one. then everything went pumpkin-shaped, you might say.

sorry.

it's been a wonderful decade

time for a new one

Photoshopping freckles is an important life skill

2009-12-29T02:17:00.004+01:00

think i might finally have learned to use Photoshop, this is my first attempt at a header for my new blog (not yet created.. still not yet created..). it's a bit small, but you can get the general idea. thoughts? links? tutorials? anything that'll make my efforts a little bit less crap?!
shall keep at it and hopefully get proficient, with the help of numerous free web tutorials. its one of those things on my New Year list of self-improvement projects. and then, InDesign, Dreamweaver and Illustrator. and hack graphic design glory will be mine.

fa la la

2009-12-25T19:59:00.005+01:00

...because this is what Christmas is all about. that and Brussel sprouts, and watching Citizen Kane. there's so much food in our fridge right now i've no idea how we'll get through it all, it would last into a nucleur holocaust..
even Phoebe gave up and fell asleep in the armchair. she's so much cuter when she's asleep.

ode to a mock Miu Miu

2009-12-22T22:06:00.004+01:00

oh, oh, Miu Miu,
I've never wanted so badly before
Something to keep you from touching the floor.
I will polish you, clean you, repair you and more,
even if people laugh and call me a brand whore..

hmm yep, the dissertation is coming along nicely.
got distracted between the writing a researching and that, went for a wander down Moore Street (it's always good for interesting Jamaican cousine!) and emerged with a new handbag. i haggled it down to €35 from €50 (which was a joke, my last cost €5 from the weird Chinese shop..) but i don't really mind as its a good book-carrying size.

ethical? not really. but is spending $1350 on the original -2009 resort line, apparently- ethical either? i'll even out sartorial Karma with the amount i spend in charity shops once they get the rush of people giving away unwanted Christmas presents (take note, prime shopping time for Oxfarmers!!). til then, am busy reading and completing various projects, being festive, FA LA LA and that:)

go slow

2009-12-20T08:14:00.005+01:00

the XX are one of those supernaturally pale, black-garbed bands whose music can easily be described as 'glacial'. witnessing the last stop of their tour at Tripod, it all seemed oddly perfect for Christmas. stripped-back, atmospheric, wrenchingly honest and sweet and moody in a teenage way.. they haven't changed the set much since Electric Picnic, though they've polished up and cut the mysterious surly bassist, Baria. and Romy's vocals are more confident; she knew exactly when to break into something smokier and heart-breaking, and when to keep it cool and sing like an R&B starlet. they really do stand out, though maybe not for their 'lack of influences' like Tim Jonze recently wrote.

it was all very sigh-inducing, even if i ended up standing in the crush near the front, beside two uncharacteristically rowdy, uncharacteristically old fans, who embarrassingly shouted 'I WANT YOUR BABIES' at the singer throughout. it was like, i'm not with them, please don't think i'm with them, they're smuggling in bottles of Corona, underneath their anoraks..

after the set i asked the one nearest to me how he'd heard about the XX. the guy mumbled something incoherent then said 'i just..read about them...and stuff'. you and the rest of the world, my dear. they made the Guardian's 'Album of the Year', after all:)

this week will be all about the last-ditch organisation. Moby Dick is done and dusted, but i've a million other things to read, and, worryingly, a million other things to write. its very slow work. i keep getting distracted, by life!!!
also, here are some marvelous procrastination-friendly links, for anyone in a similar situation:

THA STREET SKANG DICTIONARY. fo real, homies! all 80s-sourced and riddled with references to NWA and the Beasties. i'm thinking i want to hide bits of this in my next essay. for my esés, and such.
the most gorgeous site of typographic art and images on the internet. or at least, from what i've seen so far.. and i've seen a lot of typography..:) loads of old advertising, bookplates, modern creative stuff, all arranged for hours of pointless browsing and admiring..

fangirl post: the undisputed icon of this decade

2009-12-15T15:39:00.004+01:00

a brief one, but i think we can all agree that Comical Ali is the most important symbol of this last ten years. i've discovered his wonderful tribute site, on which can be found his best quotes as well as regular updates of his whereabouts. apparently his son works as a doctor in Dublin, so keep yo eyes peeled, y'all, and remember, 'there are no lies in Baghdad'..

“We have placed them in a quagmire from which they can never emerge except dead”

signs

2009-12-15T15:13:00.004+01:00

lately i've been collecting pictures of signs i like. in the spirit of 'its my blog and i'll put whatever nondescript crap i like on it', here are a few of the more interesting ones (above is an incredibly morbid one from the train in Cambridge, when i was coming home a week ago)

(new restaurant in Ranelagh. i think its gangster-themed! so much better than the wrongly-spelled 'Zucini' that preceded it..)

plus, thought i might share some links i collected:

free fonts mini-magazines, v.addictive though really just another master procrastinator

Moleskine hack templates even more addictive. turn your notebook into a planner, turn your planner into a notebook, make a Hipster PDA, hide it so people don't laugh at you..:)

learn how to build a website from scratch one for the New Year's Resolutions, along with LEARN TO TYPE PROPERLY..

Jazzy McG a friend of the web-celeb ladybloggers, probably really old hat by now but i've only just discovered her. her site is pretty and possibly designed by Nubby Twiglet, lots of western-style fonts, and some interesting accounts of life as a fashion intern. and great shoes. lots of shoes.

2009-12-13T14:56:00.001+01:00

a round-up of the news that matters

2009-12-09T22:22:00.005+01:00

argh its been almost a week! too long. the reason being that i'm kind of sort of busy ploughing through Moby Dick (my love for Captain Ahab keeps me reading, a future fangirl post if ever there was one..), gatecrashing at the Trinity College library and interning most (umm..) mornings with Newstalk 106.

i've definitely not got the hang of radio journalism quite yet; features writing looks snail-paced by comparison, but radio is simultaneously way less researched and yet higher-pressure in terms of accuracy. add to this the constant stream of text messages and listener feedback you get and it seems positively nerve-shredding. to crown all this shizzle, today is Irish budget day, so everyting revolved around that. i don't get economics, don't think i ever will.. argh.

BUT
i did spend some of the morning scouring the news for lightweight items to stick in at the end (should they run out of budget.. not likely..). so here, in all its shiny, bang-up-to-date glory, is a news roundup of the really important current affairs

RATZINGER'S GHETTO GOSPEL
The pope has released a compilation of twelve of his 'favourite songs' on Myspace Playlists. the list features predictable choices such as Regina Coeli and Mozart, slightly less predicatble choices like nauseating folkies Fleet Foxes, and then there's 'Changes' by Tupac Shakur. No word on whether Biggie Smalls will also get a look-in.

GET SUBO OR DIE TRYIN
That well known cultural barometer (and vendor of energy drinks) 50 Cent has vowed to collaborate with Hairy Angel-done-good Susan Boyle. Said Fiddy of Subo 'Susan Boyle is hot right now. I got to get her on my track, for real.' He elaborated on some seedy plans to debauch the Scottish Simon Cowell protegé, 'I'd love to take her clubbing, she'd have a great time'.

NAKED POTTERNo, they're not remaking that scene from Ghost; buzz surrounding the next Harry Potter installment is at fever pitch following the announcement from studio bosses that Dan Radcliffe will appear barely clothes in one scene during the upcoming movie. Hermione, however, will be keeping her Hogwarts uniform on. Nothing that we haven't seen in those Equus stills, though..

AND FINALLY
(i've always wanted my own personal 'And Finally', undoubtedly the best, most RELEVANT part of the news!!)
God bless Jedward. Louis Walsh has put about he rumour that the quiff-flipping twins are auditioning for a double role as dwarves in Peter Jackson's The Hobbit. Stardom beckons for the two as they embark on a tour of public appearances, tabloid interviews, dancing and maybe even some singing. Tribute tshirt sales on Moore Street remain at a record high.

farewell my lovelies

2009-12-04T09:36:00.002+01:00

SOOO after a final week of parties and studying and that, i'm flying back to ireland today, for a month of Herman Melville and cultural catching-up.
loads to do, and little time. 7000 words to write, as well as various less academic projects.. anyways, to all who i didn't get to say goodbye to, have EIN WUNDERBAR CHRISTMAS-TAG!! expect to all be facebook-assaulted by me some night during the break, and shall see you in the new year!

oh and, thankyou thankyou thankyou to my wonderful hausfolk Sophie and Tim. thanks to your lovely Christmas presents i shall spend the holidays steeped in Southern Gothic and pleasant-smelling soaps.

aint they marvellous??

birth-tag

2009-12-03T03:45:00.004+01:00

so today the brothre deserves shout-out. he's just gone eighteen. he's OLD!
things you can do when you're eighteen:
legally get into clubs (though it's never as much fun when it's legal..)
drive a car
affect a world-weary air of maturity
talk about politics
vote
buy and consume snuff
get tattooed (hellzyes!)
have a cringy birthday party where everyone congratulates you on 'becoming a man'
not drink in America

and last of all
WEAR A MOUSTACHE

if this is embarrassing and the internet equivalent to birthday bashings, i'll take it down... hehe! til then, HAPPY BIRTHDAY EMMET! may your birthday be bash-worthy:)

No, no, no; /Their offers should not charm us, /Their evil gifts would harm us.

2009-12-02T02:41:00.010+01:00

remember when i went Goblin Market-ing in Grantchester for earlier in the term? here's one of the photos, up on Photobucket. Moi magazine (thats like 'MWAH!' darling..) is slowly, very slowly but surely taking shape. hopefully over the holidays there'll be more time to write Fashwan, as up til now it's been wall-to-wall tragedy, all Nietzsche and brimstone.

in other stuff, i've been doing some Totes Dubs blogging (i'll have a link for it tomorrow.. suffice to say the word 'Brobdingnagian' features..), some theatre reviewing and not nearly enough reading for both tomorrow's seminar and for my dissertation. i feel a last-minute raid on the Modern Irish Literature section coming on, before the term is out..

oh and, more Christmas parties to come! hopefully also lots more strange pictures of people in Bat-masks.

ps. amendation: http://totallydublin.ie/blog/?tag=fashion-wednesday
Yokoo looks good!

un-christmas

2009-11-29T19:19:00.004+01:00

Christmas is for cocktail parties. and cramming large numbers of people into rooms. and Batman masks, indian guitar music and warnings from the porters. in all my pictures everybody looks surprised. and irked. except for Alex, in the photograph above. she just looks perfectly at home:)

i shall be following your advice on Raga music, expect Facebook requests for recommendations..

interrupted mid-discussion about Marxism?

right before Greg mysteriously vanished

oh yes and i wore a Batman mask for much of the evening. and it is only now, looking at this blurry shot, that i realize how very weird and creepy that must have seemed:)

isn't this photograph fantastic?!

2009-11-29T12:23:00.006+01:00

image via Jezebel.com

It's time to play the music,
It's time to light the lights....

almost time to break out our old  A Christmas Carol on video too!

the nostalgia app

2009-11-27T01:55:00.004+01:00

sooo today before lectures i woke up especially early. like, 5am early. we live next to a restaurant and i get woken up fairly often either by men delivering glass bottles or by drunk people crawling back from Cindies. no Sebastien Flite as of yet, though. but anyways.. i was Flickr-crawling and came across a group called 'Poladroid'. they're all fans of this web app, its amazement for anyone who always wanted an instant camera but lacks the Ebay account (or in my case, the film). you just download the application then drag and drop picture files, wait a minute, and they pop up on your desktop looking all misty-eyed and lo fi.
it's a cheap and cynical ploy for authenticity. but it does look nice.

oh yes and, it was day to wear red. town is all Christmassy, there are lights up in the Gardies passageway. add to that i was in a De Stjil sort of mood:)

all i want for christmas

2009-11-26T08:48:00.004+01:00

it being our last week of essays, i've mentally switched off the panic mindset you can't help but keep up during term and am thinking more about the holidays, about Christmas jobs (too late for temp-ing?), dissertation-writing and CHRISTMAS PRESENTS. best part, that last one.
so yesterday i got a few bits and pieces. have so far resisted the urge in the back of my head to buy creepy matching striped pyjamas for myself and for Sophie and Tim. you know, so we can psyche out the bedder and whoever else might swing by in the mornings by sitting there all matching and eating cereal.

Cambridge being Cambridge, its the best place in the world for buying books and magazines, and i've seen a million interesting things i'd like to bring home except for thoughts of Ryanair..
as for myself, all i want for Christmas is to hit the sales the next day. and some time to sit down and make things (long neglected, as tragedy term spares little time for crochet..)
well, and maybe one of these

pretty. weirdly iconic. and so much more tasteful than a Starbucks cup.

why the sudden Swiss style mania? might be due to the blog of graphic designer Nubby Twiglet and all her lovely pictures. or maybe its a throwback to being aged ten, when the Vati brought me home a Swiss army watch from a business trip.
or it might just be because i'm a Helvetty girl at heart. but then, aren't we all?

fangirl post: Throne of Blood

2009-11-22T16:28:00.008+01:00

'If you tread the path of demons,
Tread it in the most cruel and hideous manner.
If you build a mountain of corpses,
Build it to the sky.'

so today i finally bit the bullet (or should i say Samurai sword??) and watched Akira Kurosawa's Throne of Blood. its on the advice of many, many people but for some reason, maybe because of the imposing reputation and the solemn Samurai subject matter, i had always dismissed the film as something people claimed to enjoy for the sake of pretentiousness.

but

WOW! cool film. also very fun, very operatic and overblown. Lady Macbeth is particularly wonderful, she turns the staggered Geisha walk into something ridiculously sinister. and her voice is bizarrely high and childlike yet menacing.

i found myself amazed by the costumes in particular, predictably, i suppose. so much money and time must have been put into evoking a past era; i read that Kurasawa ended up building his own 'Cobweb Castle' (fantastic name, non?!) to shoot the film in, and used real arrows to ensure a genuine look of terror in his actors' eyes (presuming they weren't real in this scene, though..)

if you can tear your eyes away from that inconvenient neck wound, you'll notice Macbeth's gorgeous beaded armour. the men in this film wear armour like ornate guilded turtle's shells or fish scales, with overlapping layers of metal and what looks like mother of pearl. its as iconic as any ancient Greek armour. it also rather reminds me of this seasons sequinned jackets, like this one at Topshop. kind of pangolin-like, too, is suppose:)

and now for something a little less dignified. the samurai all wear gravity-defying pigtails stuck on top of their heads. even the ones who are otherwise bald manage something sticking up at the back.

the look is ludicrous but kind of iconic; fitting inspiration for la Gaga, don't you think?

and then there is the witch; Kurasawa amalgamates the three Wyrd Sisters into a typical Japanese Yamamba, or mountain hag, who mutters mysterious curses as she spins thread in a shack alone in the forest. in accordance with Japanese folklore, she has long, bedraggled white hair, frizzy like electrical static, and black-ringed eyes that can SEE INTO YOUR SOUL!!!

believe it or not (as the Japanophiles among my limited readers will already know!) this witchy look gave rise to a fashion youth cult in the early 2000s in Harajuku, a more extreme mutation of the Ganguro trend for girls to tan their skin dark brown and wear panda-eye makeup and hawaiian accessories (more on this another day, since its a major obsession..!). the most extreme ones, in an unusual, self-defacing Japanese cutesy girl version of punk, adopted the Yamamba look and ended up something like this:
eek.
now back the reality, an essay on tragedy..

the white monolith (and my week in pictures)

2009-11-19T23:50:00.005+01:00

graffiti in Cambridge always tends to the strange -Barmy Artist scrawlings, maths formulas and that iconic 'TO THE RIVER' sign..- but yesterday i found what i think has to be my new favourite. its on the way to the Sidgewick site, when you cross the road next to the Fellows Garden at King's. someone has turned an electricity box into a fantastic tool of horror and grandeur and cinematic kudos..

anyone else see the 2001: A Space Odyssey comparisons??

food is difficult to photograph, i know from many agonizing encounters with my mothre's cupcakes. everything usually comes out looking like a steaming pile of mush. which is why i'm particularly proud of making my bowl of couscous here resemble a cappuccino:

HRH (!!!) THE QUEEN was in Cambridge today. not sure exactly why. something to do with music. apparently Mr Queen (aka 'The Duke') was also here, but he declined to make any inept or vaguely racist comments. quite the pity. it also meant that the whole of Kings Parade was sectioned off for her to drive her car down the street- for ceremonial reasons, i'm supposing..-as everyone had turned out to see her. i even saw one elderly lady with a scarf tied under her chin in style homage. 'she's one for taking her time', as one man said. i had to grudgingly walk all the way around Trinity Street just to get to the library..

lacking Threads inspiration and with the deadline alarmingly soon, on Tuesday i set off on an Oxfarming expedition. seemingly there was a vogue for obscene label names in the 80s; this was sewn inside a fantastic, hideous gilt-button dress:

and finally..
in the quest to further Daphne Guinness-ify my wardrobe, i decided to go all out tribal jewellery and bought two cheapo heavy-beaded necklaces from Primark to stitch together into a collar. im going for a kind of instant-piecrust style that can be worn on top of ordinary tshirts to make them more interesting. god bless that space alien fashion muse. for truly she is the goddess of shoes.

subject of, yes i do look rather space-alien like myself in that last picture. but then, no-one ever like photos of themselves when they're smiling, now, do they? that just wouldn't be Fashwan, darlinks...

a spiked heel through the heart

2009-11-17T08:59:00.005+01:00

shoes are always a good investment, methinks. even if you're arrested, you'll still have your Nike boots (click for tasteless rap song to prove my point, it's no My Adidas but it's suitably overblown..). i've been on a major shoe buzz ever buying Fly wedges right before leaving Dublin. posts like this about Daphne Guinness, shoe heiress/ space alien princess in Alexander McQueen, are only making me more heel-crazy.
so i figured i'd go buy these space-age super-pointy Topshop platforms, they're on sale for £20 reduced from about 80. even in London over the weekend, dazzled as i was by the Irregular Choice shop and Poste Mistress with its ACNE ATACOMA WEDGES(!! favourite design blogger Nubby Twiglet wears them well. envy.), i managed not to spend on anything simply because i had those shoes in mind and planned on running in once i was back and had completed all essay/article/reading deadlinez...

ain't they killer? like, literally, KILLER?!

and then.
you know how this ends, right?
gone. alas. alack. a modern shoe tragedy. the only pair left are too big so it looks like i fished them out of a dressing up box. wearing them would necessitate extremely thick socks. and maybe a trip to A&E.
can't be helped. so instead i have resolved to wear the hell out of these Martin Marghiela knock-offs i got for £15 earlier in the term. they're not too high to walk in, and go well with motivational art posters:)

Fash Wednesday, by the way, shall this week be in mourning for Luella. we will all wear pony blazers and carry black Mulberrys, as a mark of respect:(
and then there's quite a lot of Raymond Williams that i should be reading. and The Iliad. hmm, best get on that...

no love for the drummers

2009-11-14T01:17:00.007+01:00

another London highlight was the Brick Lane music mecca Rough Trade, the biggest branch of the shop i've seen. its right opposite that amazing 24-hour cafe-disco place, the one selling corn on the cob outside, not far from the Sunday Up-Market.

right in the middle of trendiest Whoreditch

inside there are stacks of vinyl and CDs (some limited edition in their own hand-knitted cases!), tshirts with Run DMC and Run DMC parodies lining the walls (and the original 'I am a Horror' shirt- time to dig mine out again methinks..), and a splendid fair trade café called Progreso, selling Americanos that taste v.good indeed.

so the duffle-coated one (of Jeff Koons-staring fame) went off and combed the aisles for -was it something DFA? as well as a band i can't quite recall.. also, Heaven, who don't seem to even have a web presence i can link this to, they're just that obscure:)
while he was off doing what i generally do in Vivienne Westwood shoes shops (that is, stare in awe and wish i had more money..) i took a chance to get caramel coffee and examine the 'Drummers Wanted' wall. yep, it's not so much classifieds as just a whole wall of bands lacking a drummer. evidently they're in short supply, especially round Shoreditch parts.

isn't this one the prettiest? someone's a graphic artist for their day job..

where does 'mid hip-hop' begin and end?

somewhat less inventive, but they do have a wide and non-generic list of influences..umm..

a classic handwritten scrawled drummer wanted sign. also the 'Anneka' (Swedish?) and '20-25 years old' should generate some interest

i would think fans of the Virgins and Friendly Fires might throw bottles at Morrisey..

so that might be a valid escape plan if the old English degree falls through; learn drums and move to Shoreditch.
either that or my original Plan B, become a gang tattoo artist in Mexico..

alternate title: 'Sold Out'

2009-11-11T20:10:00.003+01:00

last weekend was spent taking in ze culture in London (and, for a night, Cambridge) with Dan. highlights included seeing Yo La Tengo and their insanely awful folksy support act, Paul Smith shirt-stalking in Spitalfields and a visit to Rough Trade (more on this..), crashing college digs at Mile End thanks to the lovely Susie, Camden raw veganism and ludicrous amounts of pitta bread. but one of the key destinations on the list was definitely Pop Life at the Tate Modern.

they wheel out some of the brightest, brashest,most eye-popping pop art to greet you at the door; there's Murakami's otaku lust object- i call her Obscenely Lactating MangaGirl- pictured above (eagle-eyed security guards prevented me from getting a good shot of my own) and beside her the mirrored balloon bunny by Jeff Koons.

look, i'm reflected in it!

then pretty soon after this it turns into Damien Hirst's beast, with rooms of his stuff including the golden calf in a golden box (below) and the notorious money-spinning Spot Paintings, accompanied by Hirst's retort to critics, a piece involving two identical pictures on the wall with identical twin girls sitting under them, reading the same magazine and dressed exactly the same. for all his detractors, Hirst knows all about showmanship. i still felt all geeky and skittish in front of that cow in formaldehyde:)

the other great thing, what really makes it a young person's exhibit, is the influence of music on the art displayed. you get the chance to fit music history and commercial art together with the less accessible world of gallery art. NWA, Grace Jones, Kirsten Dunst and Marilyn, obviously, all appeared.. oh and we shall not mention that Brooke Shields portrait they removed after the police visit..

the Tate has preserved a sense of chronology; its either in homage or simply taking the piss, but before Hirst and Tracey Emin you see a room with 'The Worst of Warhol', celebrity portraits from his later years. there are also several of his Gem portraits, kept in a darkened UV room so you can glow along with them. here i am being luminescent and blurry:

another room reconstructed the Keith Haring pop-up shop, and another was plastered all over with newspaper cuttings of a 70s porn scandal. SUBJECT OF, i counted three rooms with blacked-out doors and 'not suitable for minors' signs outside. one of these, the 'Jeff Koons porno room' (!), was just wall-to-wall Photoshopped pictures of the artist and Italian adult film starlet 'La Cicciolina', getting up to all kinds of fun. not to sound conceited, but i would have had the most hilarious picture ever, of a strategically-placed viewer's head, in front of an enormous and anatomically-correct wall mural.. but then security told me to put my camera away. DAYUM. seriously.

so instead here's a blurry certain person in a Duffel coat getting a closer look..:)

fun fun fun, in all. the final Murakami mural room was fantastic- the first art exhibit i have ever seen featuring high-top Louis Vuittons and vinyl figurines, alongside a video for 'Turning Japanese' and a diamond-studded Superflat monster.
more on Londres to come, though for now im going back to reading about Augusto Boal and his reactionary Theatre of the Oppressed (companhieros, this time the revolution will be blogged-about!!)

turns out the Breakfast of Champions isn't cereal

2009-11-07T02:06:00.004+01:00

.. or cocaine, for that matter. just finished- and this is embarrassing, because its your quintessential angry teenage fiction, to be quoted in songs by Born Ruffians- Kurt Vonnegut's Breakfast of Champions. wow. it was great. the happy buzz has not yet left me.
my favourite quotes:
'this book is being written by a meat machine in cooperation with a machine of metal and plastic' 'I somersaulted lazily and pleasantly through the void'
'dying, she released a small clowd of telepathic butterflies'

and best of all, a definition given (finally!) for the purpose of life:
'To be the eyes and ears and conscience of the Creator, you fool!'

also, kudos for his use of the word 'nacreous' and the phrase 'oodles of charm'

so this has got me thinking i really ought to read more for pleasure, texts that have nothing at all to do with coursework or tragedy or dissertations, just things i enjoy. oddly it feels more personal to be writing here about books i haven't read than the usual stuff about my actual life.. but anyways, it seems a TO-READ LIST is in order:) here goes..

1. Brecht's plays- hmm don't know where to start, but you know, META and such.
2.The Art of Looking Sideways- non-fiction but its been in the back of my head since forever.
3. The Constant Nymph- this was mentioned in a Vogue article long ago as a book about Daisy Buchanan-like 'Golden Girls'. though its name sounds a bit like a porn novel.
4. Slaughterhouse Five- generally regarded as 'the other good one', right? (also, £2 in Fopp, hellz yes!)
5. Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man- because its disgusting i've not read this yet.
6. Leaves of Grass- i've been to some lectures on Walt Whitman for the American paper, everything i've seen so far is so spirit-lifting and beautiful, even at 9am on a Friday morning..
7. The Anatomy of Melancholy- one the strangest books i've come across. its like a Commonplace Book of misery. the renaissance-era equivalent to Beck's Sea Change:)
8. Moby Dick- another American paper text. being ambitious here..
9. Number9Dream- why is it Oxfam only ever has Black Swan Green?!!
10. more West Indian horror stories. dem scary tales are to be found on their own shelf in the English Faculty, they seem to have their fans

should really check back in a few months and see if i've struck many off the list. between three libraries and a city full of very, very cheap bookshops, it won't be too hard tracking them down. actually getting through Herman Melville, though, is a different matter altogether..

hang the virtual DJ

2009-11-06T01:48:00.004+01:00

wahey, it went well! i began with a secret Swedish pop track. i mixed 'She Bop' into 'Sure Shot'. and i even got the backcombed emo wallflower types to dance to the Beastie Boys, despite the risk of tearing their skinny jeans and messing up their hair.
major thanks to Sophie for letting me loose on the Portland Arms, to the weird techie guy who turned out to be really nice, and to the faceless internet people behind Virtual DJ 6.01, trial edition. now i am a bonafide disco hack:)

in England 'indie' seems to be a word used unselfconsciously. it makes stuff like The Paddingtons, The View and other jangly The Whatevers make perfect sense. here Patrick Wolf's reputation remains perfectly intact. there is a literal scene literally calling itself 'indie', and you can join the club if you know all the words to Noah and the Whale. puzzling.

even more puzzling was the refusal to wear skinny jeans anywhere above half-mast. and the abundance of star tattoos. and the disdain from the back for my tracks from Ill Communication, calling them 'R'n'B'. that was a high point- whats the point in commandeering the playlist without outraging a few puritanical emos??!
some people just won't dance unless theyre staring at their shoes and swaying to guitar fuzz.
fun fun fun..

subject of shoe-gazing, as a self-congratulatory, 'well done for reading Hamlet' gesture i decided to spend a morning Oxfarming. i picked up these 70s hooker-ish shoes for £4.99. v.pleased, they're really comfortable and make a satisfyingly loud horse-shoe noise on cobbled streets.
i dont want to take em off, they go a long way toward staving off my Melissa/Vivienne Westwood shoe obsession. though already Cambridge is dark and Winter-y and the wind is cold enough to freeze fingers and toes. i've asked for my leather jacket to be sent over here by express Ryanair personal delivery:)

oh and.. twas breakfast. arent they lovely? bought at the market en route to three Hegel-themed lectures. a heavy day of tragic thinking:)

the lady doth procrastinate too much

2009-11-02T02:07:00.004+01:00

fond of skulls

so what began as a conversation with the uncle turned into me re-writing this week's essay completely, going 1000 words over the limit (bringing it to a rambly 3000 total wordcount!) and only winding up now, in the early hours of Monday morning.
the subject? why Hamlet, THE DANE! (said in foppish Olivier-ish tones, clutching a skull)

i think this will be one of my better essays. at least, i hope so. its subject, ironically enough, is 'ranting'. anger, existentialism and madness. i strongly suspect its turned out to be a rant in itself, but oh well..
best part was the strange collection of links i ended up collecting in the process, which i shall now list for in all their eclectic absurdity:
Jungian theory of the shadow i wish i had paid more attention to this in Literature and the Unconscious class! This and the Freud essays were fun to look at (The Uncanny, male hysteria, 'Herr E', same old same old..!)
the Wikipedia page for 4Chan so i looked up rants, which led me to YouTube rants (via Kanye West), which led me to trolling (not the act in itself, hellz no!, but a page explaining it in the context of 'web board rant') which led to an in-depth discussion of the history of the /b/ thread. weird.
A Guide to Secular Religions though why buy it when its all here online? the book looks a little bit facile, or something, but i like how all the schools of thought are explained concisely here
A blog guide to tv scriptwriting this one is really entertaining! the author did a really sarcastic funny post asking 'am i the only one that noticed Ophelia is pregnant?'. new definition of 'nunnery' and all.
which led me to..
an article on 'what to expect when inducing herbal abortions' definitely the strangest of all. i think it swritten by the internet wiccan community.. basically i wanted to check the symbolism of rue in Ophelia's song when she goes mad. it stands for regret, but its also one of the most powerful known herbs for inducing abortion. eek. do people use these methods? perhaps. creepy either way. quite a step up form trying to smoke banana skins or oregano, and other resourceful 'herbal' wisdom:)

and then last of all, a gorgeous site selling rocking-horse platform shoes
sigh.. some fashion blogger with a Westwood fetish was thinking of tattooing Polonius' line 'to thine own self be true' across her hipbones, and then i noticed a post below that about this site. gorgeousness in shoe form.

so you see, dear reader, that procrastination does pay. though i dont really need to say that, to anyone reading this long rambly blog post:)

would you like cannoli with that?

2009-10-31T08:12:00.003+01:00

so im putting together my ricotta-cheesy Carmela Soprano outfit for tonacht's parties.. i think i have enough loud prints in my wardrobe to get something like whats in my head as the archtypal tacky mob wife ensemble (we're going for tacky Carmela here, not in the later serious episodes!).
topped off with helmet hair, the outfit will resemble something like this..

tucked into this (because it aint properly tacky unless its tucked in!)
i wish i was at home because i do actually own some plastic late-nineties mules..

BUT i do have a loud-printed chanel scarf, showy costume jewellery and an obnoxious Gucci bag, and a really garish blue houndtooth shirt im going to knot over the whole ensemble, for maximum ungodliness. i'll also be carrying a plate of homemade cannoli. oh and, maybe fake nails, if i can get really cheap and lurid-looking ones in Claires Accessories.

one question remains; to fake tan or not?
urgh. too much like school, think i'll opt out..

And is there honey still for tea?

2009-10-28T15:11:00.008+01:00

JUST got back from helping out a shoot for what has been tentatively entitled 'Moi Magazine' (or is 'Mwah'? not sure). Lili's idea for the pictures was to theme it around the Rosetti poem 'Goblin Market'- lots of fruit smooshed all over the place, baroque masquerade costumes, four glamourous, Goth-y 'goblins' and two innocent pre-Raphaelite maidens

we showed up in a taxi around 10am at Granchester, home of the Rupert Brooke museum and guaranteed dispenser of tea-time honey on toast. i think the tea rooms there stay open 24 hours, like some alternate Earl Grey universe from The Prisoner. anyway the place was full of American tourists and people walking their dogs. the people commented that we must be a visiting theatre group, or stopped and stared at our wings and masks. one guy came over and just sat on a pile of shrubs to watch, most disconcerting when youre trying very hard to hold a pose, and forget how cold it is and that your legs are going numb..
the dogs just made for the fruit and tea cakes which we'd brought along as props:)

here's one of shots going down. others involved more daring locations like climbing up trees and half climbing into streams near the home of Jeffrey Archer..

while waiting by the graveyard i decided to do a little hitch-hiking

oh yeah and a day ago, in the middle of a rather stressful morning, i noticed the cows sitting right along the fences in Kings College. seems a very relaxed life, and this particular one made for a nice photograph, with the sun coming in as it was

'Cows in Autumn', a tableaux..

last of all, witness the Fashwan on the Totally Dublin Blog, hellz yes. I'd wear it..

the pre-fire sale

2009-10-27T01:02:00.007+01:00

the captions below the pictures say 'you won't remember this' and then 'you won't forget this':)
(from 'Its Not How Good You Are, its How Good You Want to Be', gawd i really need to buy 'The Art of Looking Sideways' now..)

aside from reading this shizzle, i've been reading, writing and copiously note-taking on Senecan tragedy. lots of rage and severed limbs and stoical deaths. splendid.
between the blood'n'guts theatre i'm writing about the rather more lightweight topic of Lady Gaga and her roots in the fashion underground (whatever that is..).

tonight i also made it to yet another Irishy love-in at the Union. Dara O'Brian, narky host guy from Mock The Week, was there to promote his novel. it started out as a rather mundane questions & answers session, dull though his flat Wexford accent was strangely reassuring.
but then he just completely departed from the script, questions guy didnt get a word in, and it ended in a standing ovation. he took questions from the crowd, we got to debate uses of the term 'TOTAL LEDGEBAG', largely unknown of South Dublin:)

all my pictures came out blurry, he just kept GESTICULATING!!

oh yeah and, to all who attended the marvellous Bacchanal, i feel i should apologize for how it ended. this poster sort of sums it up, illogically so. parties are to be seen at.

(ignore the bicycle part..)

though i suppose Bacchanals are meant to end in some mild catastrophe, in keeping with the Donna Tartt mould.