Baubliscious

Feeling the festive season rather late, I decided to quickly make a penguin bauble after being inspired by a gift from a friend. Lots of thread, circled round a fluffy ball you get from arts and crafts stores, and pins to hold it in place. Hurrah! Live long and prosper you crafty thing.

Peaking Lights

Your Days are Numbered

Murmurs @ Southbank

As a child I remember being told I was being taken to the circus. So psyching myself up to see elephants with tea cosys on their heads, ringleaders with handle bar moustaches and acrobats that could bend like rubber; I was as excitable as a 9 year old could be. However, at Cirque du Soleil I was pounced upon a ghastly clown that shoved a kit kat in my face and incomprehensibly made noises that my little imagination could not endure so I hid behind my father. Despite this minor encounter this show with all its glory was tantaslising visual fanfare with elaborate costumes of enlarged proportions and dynamic styling paired with atmospheric lighting and poised comedy, acrobatic and dancing routines.

So when I saw 'Murmurs' show at the Southbank Centre advertised in a little box on my facebook account I clicked on the link (of which hardly ever happens). Depicting a 'woman fleeing from reality' Charlie Chaplin's great grand-daughter actress Aurélia Thierrée plays the main protagonist who lives out of packed up boxes, encountering a variety of characters along the way in a world of illusion, theatre and dance.

In an age when I feel my imagination is failing me and magic seems extinguished with the looming double dip recession and the likes of the Littlewoods product endorsement or M&S' showcase of Xfactor contestants in the recent UK Christmas ads; the southbank show is very much welcomed in my eyes. Having watched a TED video with psychiatrist Iain MacGilchrist questioning the rationality of the left hemisphere of the brain over the suffering artist that is the silent right side of the brain; I think it is important to nurture interests that capture us no matter how superficial the experience may be or not constructive to our everyday working lives. Just the desire to see this show allowed me to type this post.

Active Child

The Pale Blue Door to The Double Club

Okay, so I would presume most of us would link the name Carsten Höller to those enormous steel slides that winded through the vacuous space that is the Turbine Hall at the Tate Modern (entitled 'Test Site' and commisioned Unilever Series). However this kingpin of engineered, experiential installation art placed his eggs in some other baskets with the aid of funds from Fondazione Prada in November 2008, and opened a bar/restaurant/disco in warehouse by Angel tube station in London (known as Islington Metal Works, formerly Electrowerkz). This art project entitled 'The Double Club' was hoped to be an embodiment of Congelese and Western culture collide; showcasing various cultural dishes, acts and drinks contrasting each other; with 50% of the profits going to UNICEF. Having been closed since July 2009, how bloody bummed out was I that I missed a chance to go see it . . . however the idea was good enough to blog nostalgically about.

Yet there is still an opportunity to remedy this loss! Thank god for 'The Pale Blue Door' dinner parties held by Tony Hornecker in his art installated, East London home laced with fine cuisine and divine interior-vention. I would like to think a tasteful gypsy would reside in such abodes.

NRK: Nobody Really Knows

Quite allured by the sounds coming out of NRK (Nobody Really Knows) artists. Experimental Hip Hop.

Download Andre McCloud's album 'Therapeutic Vapors' from here.

Download Jay Cue's album 'Pyramid Life' here.

Big up Biba

Although my mother received this book as a present for her birthday some years ago, it seems to me that it might as well been my own celebration of entering into the world (pseudo-70s)! Filled with awesome photographs of the elaborate shop windows, caked on dummies and eye numbing decorative patterns, this book on the history of short lived department store Biba it ultimately not one to miss for those of you who enjoy delving into nostalgic fashion history. It makes me think which British contemporary department store could be classified as an adequate equivalent today that perhaps encapsulates 21st century living? Is it possible to have such a totalising concept store in postmodernism? If we consider Harrods or Selfridges, they appear to have profitable branded concessions clustered within their megastructure; whilst the Dover Street Market or Liberty appears to be too reservedly cool for such a endeavour. I suppose what I am angling for, is a department store that has the cluttered, home feel, yet a disneyfied aspect of Biba today.

Basically. Biba. Rocks.

Keith Arnatt

'Untitled', from the photographic series Pictures from a Rubbish Tip, 1988-1989

The Weeknd 'House of Balloons' Download

The Weeknd has offered up their mixtape 'House of Balloon' for free Download Here! The baby making tracks are the best.

Leeds Creative Timebank

Having worked in at a cultural marketing firm based in West Yorkshire the past month I've learnt about a few things about the area whilst writing up previews and listings for DigYorkshire.

Trains. There are shit loads of railway tracks, or old train attractions up North.
Small towns love touring psychic shows.
Rambling paradise for those of you with Camper shoes.
Some amazing community based fetes and fairs knocking about.

However what struck my chords most, was stumbling across the alternative economy of Leeds Creative Timebank in an e-bulletin. This non-profit organisation pulls together professionals, companies and individuals within creative industries that need some assistance. Then individuals may sign up to volunteer. By volunteers banking up their given hours they may exchange it for some work experience/skill development in a desired profession of their choice available. For example, one week I may volunteer 3 hours of my time to be a gallery invigilator in order to learn about taxidermy from a working artist for 3 hours the following week (note: the place you volunteer will not necessarily have to be the same place with which you may wish to learn your desired skill). Forging a web of creative individuals through working relations, this is a great opportunity to meet people who mutually want to learn and teach somewhat free of stressed capital.

Wear Sunscreen: Advice, like youth, probably just wasted on the young

“Ladies and gentlemen: Wear sunscreen.

If I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen would be it. The long-term benefits of sunscreen have been proved by scientists, whereas the rest of my advice has no basis more reliable than my own meandering experience. I will dispense this advice now.

Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth.

Oh, never mind. You will not understand the power and beauty of your youth until they’ve faded. But trust me, in 20 years, you’ll look back at photos of yourself and recall in a way you can’t grasp now how much possibility lay before you and how fabulous you really looked. You are not as fat as you imagine.

Don’t worry about the future. Or worry, but know that worrying is as effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubble gum. The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind, the kind that blindside you at 4 p.m. on some idle Tuesday.

Do one thing every day that scares you.

Sing.

Don’t be reckless with other people’s hearts. Don’t put up with people who are reckless with yours.

Floss.

Don’t waste your time on jealousy. Sometimes you’re ahead, sometimes you’re behind. The race is long and, in the end, it’s only with yourself.

Remember compliments you receive. Forget the insults. If you succeed in doing this, tell me how.

Keep your old love letters. Throw away your old bank statements.

Stretch.

Don’t feel guilty if you don’t know what you want to do with your life. The most interesting people I know didn’t know at 22 what they wanted to do with their lives. Some of the most interesting 40-year-olds I know still don’t.

Get plenty of calcium. Be kind to your knees. You’ll miss them when they’re gone.

Maybe you’ll marry, maybe you won’t. Maybe you’ll have children, maybe you won’t. Maybe you’ll divorce at 40, maybe you’ll dance the funky chicken on your 75th wedding anniversary.

Whatever you do, don’t congratulate yourself too much, or berate yourself either. Your choices are half chance. So are everybody else’s.

Enjoy your body. Use it every way you can. Don’t be afraid of it or of what other people think of it. It’s the greatest instrument you’ll ever own.

Dance, even if you have nowhere to do it but your living room.

Read the directions, even if you don’t follow them.

Do not read beauty magazines; they will only make you feel ugly.

Get to know your parents. You never know when they’ll be gone for good.

Be nice to your siblings. They’re your best link to your past and the people most likely to stick with you in the future.

Understand that friends come and go, but with a precious few you should hold on. Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography and lifestyle, because the older you get, the more you need the people who knew you when you were young.

Live in New York City once, but leave before it makes you hard.

Live in Northern California once, but leave before it makes you soft.

Travel.

Accept certain inalienable truths: Prices will rise. Politicians will philander. You, too, will get old. And when you do, you’ll fantasize that when you were young prices were reasonable, politicians were noble and children respected their elders.

Respect your elders.

Don’t expect anyone else to support you. Maybe you have a trust fund. Maybe you’ll have a wealthy spouse. But you never know when either one might run out.

Don’t mess too much with your hair or by the time you’re 40 it will look 85.

Be careful whose advice you buy, but be patient with those who supply it. Advice is a form of nostalgia. Dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts and recycling it for more than it’s worth.

But trust me on the sunscreen.”

- Mary Schmich, is a columnist for the Chicago Tribune

Tom Barnett

Okay so this Aussie born, Central Saint Martins fashion graduate makes uplifting remixed tracks from filmic footage with added beats. I caught his stuff a while back, but having checked up on his youtube channel recently hes still going! Summer vibing fo sho.
Heres his youtube channel: http://http//www.youtube.com/user/Fagottron


Although I think this first video is his own creation:

Diso Done!

Now that the bulk of my university work load is pretty much done, its now time to turn my thoughts to other things (temporarily before I start my next assignment):

DANCING:


FRIENDS:


SLEEP:

With love from Korea

Having a British friend move to South Korea for a year-long teaching placement has its educational benefits. Recapping her initial experience, I am told that p.d.a. (public displays of affection) is somewhat a cultural taboo. Instead of couples physically hugging, kissing or drunken groping to signify an intimate relationship, some Koreans opt for an aesthetic form of mimesis in their fashion decisions. This has manifestd in the 'couple look'. Two partners exerting such may endeavor in wearing the same material, pattern, accessory or item of clothing in an effort to visually match their loved one. The retail market has accomodated to this with companies such as gogobeach or stylestoker offering a selection of seasonal matching outfits.

Yet whilst pondering on it, I recollected that this practice is not alien to Western culture. How could we forget the double denim look Posh Spice and Becks sported in the spring of their relationship? Or those strange reliquaries of blood Angela Jolie and Billy Bob Thornton wore as a necklaces? What perhaps is more remarkable, is that despite the gestural conservatism in Korea, my friend acknowledged a comparative difference in single-sex places like the showers of the gym where women strolled confidently naked and asked strangers (herself included) to scrub their backs. I can interpret this in three ways - Korean women may just be more comfortable with strangers, they're in denial on the existence of lesbians, or my friend is having a good old bubble bath at my expense. Expanding on the first of my interpretations (as this probably more likely), the reason why I found the instance so unusual is that perhaps the association of the naked body with sex is unconsciously ingrained in my peripheral psyche. It seems Koreans understand that the gestures of friendship and love have recognisable boundaries that can transcend nudity. Thats just great.

Lyrical Life Philosophy

The Future of Dating

Unfortunately I did not find this video on my own quest, but this is just a gem!

Leeds Love: J Brewski

Three days ago, me and some friends went out to a birthday outing in Leeds. As it turned out eventually after much drink and dance, all eight of us managed to get the taxi driver to hook up an ipod of ours and play Drake blaring from the vehicle. It was a surreal incident as Jermaine who sat at the front looked uncannily like the Canadian recording artist, on point with every word of 'Best I Ever Had'. Only having checked up his videos today, I have a new found respect for Jermaine (or J Brewski). Despite having a minor despute with the London brai, I definately think his lyrics could give Drake a run for his money.

Someone give this young talent some money to fund a catchy chorus and make a fly video that will rake the pea in please.

How to Dress Well

Turn the volume low to medium.

Low-fi RnB never sounded so right.

Labyrinth Ear

Met once in a blur, but facebook has kept me updated with Emily Jacobs' pursuits. AND HOW GLAD I AM. Here is her band Labyrinth Ear with her partner in crime Tom Evans . Subtle voice with looped samples celebrates a nostalgic retro tinged form of electro synth at its most alluring. Softer Lykke Li tones perhaps with a beat reminiscent of The Knife and better than the Golden Filter for me. Oak EP can be downloaded for free from their website below:
http://labyrinthear.com/oak-ep/

YUM

Celebrating two kinds of Kaufman

'Man on the Moon' (1999) is a biographical adaption of comic eccentric Andy Kaufman. Playing the lead role, Jim Carey does an amazing job at identfying Kaufman - a man who had no identity or perhaps too many. One is never sure whether to laugh or cry, but at least you know that you'll need to do one of the two.

I knew absolutely nothing about this film and was originally coerced. Hence I do not want to add the trailer as I think it gives far too much away.
Semi-biographical, 'Confessions of a Dangerous Mind' (2002) follows ballsy, tv producer Chuck Barris' rise to fame and other varying heights. Quick paced and funny, that 113 minutes will whizz by as 'The Dating Game' developer leaves you inspired. Oh and the Kaufman is screenwriter Charlie Kaufman.

Cheesy Party Pooper

I don't mean
to sound
uncultured,
but to me,
there
is
nothing
weirder,
than
a
home-made cheeseball.