Friday 31 July 2009

if polygamy were legal #19


if polygamy were legal, i would marry these shoes in an elaborate ceremony for two *sigh*

cheeming boey

check out these incredible coffee cup drawings by Cheeming Boey. tonnes more here. are these awesome, or what?

Wednesday 29 July 2009

an award! and 10 things you don't [and might not want to] know about me

YAY! my first award! :D many, many thanks to the marvelous Christina of Fabulous Finds & Co. for bestowing upon me this lovely award! (and for writing such a marvelously stylish blog herself, which you simply must go and visit.) i'm tickled pink!


this award came with a tag as well, so here goes...
Ten Things You Don't [and might not want to] Know About Me:

1. I spent 13 years of my youth as a competitive highland dancer
i began my brief dance career in ballet at the tender age of five, only to have my ballerina dreams shattered when my teacher proclaimed me too large-and-in-charge to pursue them. thus began my long term relationship with highland, followed by a fleeting affair with jazz. (yikes)


2. I’ve had every hair colour and style under the sun
fire engine red, short, long, spiked, blonde, black, blue, pink, skunk stripe, shaved (twice), permed, and everything in between, though for the last 5 years or so i’ve been au natural.

3. I’m mildly 'twi-tarded'
i’ve read the Twilight series and seen the movie three times, though mostly from an analytical perspective, as i’d really like to write a young adult fiction series someday, and am totally open to discussions of Bella as a weak and flaccid character with no redeeming qualities as a role model for young girls. [see Buffy vs. Edward below]



4. I'm a qualified filmmaker
i have completed 7 years of film school, am fully trained to analyze and/or create a film from pre production to distribution, and worked on film and tv sets for 3 and a half years, though now i write funding applications for children’s programming.

5. I have my grade 6 conservatory opera certificate
i took operatic singing lessons for 4 years, but my love for singing was soon eclipsed by terrible stage fright and a nasty smoking habit.


6. I can make small talk in 5 languages and swear in 12
due to extensive travel in my twenties, including english teaching stints in Thailand and Taiwan, i can make conversation in English, French, Thai, Mandarin & Spanish and can swear in all of these plus German, Vietnamese, Hindi, Portugese, Greek, and Armenian.


7. i’ll eat anything but mussels
the first time i ever had mussels, i was apprehensive, yet curious. a few mussels in, i was completely converted, savouring the succulent creatures soaked in garlic and wine sauce, when i found myself spitting out what seemed like a wee tuft of hair. good lord! this must be some hideous error! we must leave this restaurant immediately and never return! no, my friend explained, that’s just the beard. the BEARD. What? mussels have beards. Never Again.


8. I can drink most men under the table
i’m half german, half british and almost 6 feet tall. hollow legs are in me genes :)


9. I can recite Stand By Me in its entirety
it is highly likely that you think me to be exaggerating. you are mistaken. as a 12 year old, obsessively smitten with the young River Phoenix and recklessly excited that my mom let me watch a movie so filled to the brim with words i was not allowed to utter, i saw Stand By Me well over 60 times, and made it my mission to learn each and every word. don’t believe me? come on to my house and we’ll pop the old VHS in… I was twelve going on thirteen the first time I saw a dead human being. It happened in the summer of nineteen fifty nine. a long time ago, but only if you measure in terms of years…


10. I have 4 tattoos, one of which I share with my husband
(it’s an Elvis symbol. stands for ‘taking care of business in a flash’. :) there are TCB symbols on his plane, rings, sunglasses, tv room wall and on and on. he also gave TCB necklaces to all of his entourage) this may seem a bit strange to some of you, but we think it’s pretty frickin’ cool :)


i shall now spread the love by re-gifting this award and passing the tag to the marvelously stylish and brilliant peeps listed here (grab your award above and don't feel pressured to play along if you don't wish to, but it sure would be neat if you did :)

pretty little world

the cupcake diary

strawberry koi

lenore nevermore

nothing elegant

letters from the home front

greetz from tiz

chronically vintage

the dino lounge

mermaid in a manhole

Q's daydream

all the king's women #5 - carolyn jones


Carolyn Jones made her first film, The Turning Point in 1952. in 1953, she married then aspiring filmmaker Aaron Spelling, and her film career began to gain momentum. in 1953, she was cast in From Here to Eternity, but was forced to withdraw due to illness. it was Donna Reed who was eventually cast in her role, winning an Oscar for her performance. in 1957 Jones gave the shortest film performance ever nominated for an Academy Award, a six-minute role in Bachelor Party (1957). she has performed opposite Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Anthony Quinn and even Marilyn Monroe.




in Elvis' third, and arguably best film, King Creole (1958) [directed by Michael Curtiz of Casablanca fame], Jones played Ronnie, girlfriend of gangster Maxie Fields, played by Walter Matthau. this was Elvis' favourite of all his films and marked his second colaboration with the afore mentioned Dolores Hart.





in 1964, covering her naturally blonde hair with a long black wig, Jones began her most famous role as Morticia in TV's The Addams Family, a role which brought her a Golden Globe Award nomination.


in 1983, at just 53 years old, Carolyn died of cancer in her home in West Hollywood, California, a month after her third marriage to long-time boyfriend, actor Peter Bailey-Britton. Jones told her sister, Bette Moriarty, that she wished her epitaph to read "She gave joy to the world."

bang bang, shoot 'em up


necklace from plasticland

let me preface this by saying that i am a card carrying pacifist and i do not condone violence in any way. it's just that i saw Steven Soderbergh's Che the other night - which i was thoroughly impressed with - and now i feel all tough n stuff. so please take this post with a grain of sugar :)

shotglass by ofminedesign

cuff links by hoolala


earings by IceCreamCandy

sheet music from SweetSparrowVintage

onesie by flyduds

tshirt by 106miles

Tuesday 28 July 2009

yesterday's muse - carmen dell' orefice


while riding a New York bus to ballet class in 1944, 13 year old Carmen Dell'Orefice was approached to model by the wife of photographer Herman Landschoff. her test photos were a "flop" according to Carmen, but two years later she landed a Vogue contract for $7.50 per hour. she appeared on the October 1947 cover of Vogue, at age 15, one of the youngest Vogue cover models in the history of fashion. Carmen worked with the most famous fashion photographers of her era and became the muse of Salvador Dali.






Carmen's timeless elegance and now silver hair have become iconic of beauty that scoffs in the face of age.

sarah joncas


just discovered the work of Ontario artist Sarah Joncas, who is not only extraordinarily talented, but also stylish and beautiful. check out her blog here.




the town of books



i found this beautiful wee post over at munna on the run, about a little town in Wales called Hay-on -Wye, the town of books. i'm smitten with this post and with the blog in general. perhaps because of a shared appreciation for Gabriel Garcia Marquez, my favourite author in all the universe.

Monday 27 July 2009

tokyo dreaming


see some more of Antonio Saba's wonderful photos of Tokyo and its residents here.



Friday 24 July 2009

hall of dames - video vendredi edition




the incomparable Kate Bush was signed by EMI at the age of 16 after being recommended by Pink Floyd's David Gilmour. in 1978, at age 19, she became the first woman to reach number one on the UK charts with a self-written song (her debut single, "Wuthering Heights").



since then, Kate's eclectic, some might say eccentric, style has made her one of England's most successful solo performers of the past 30 years. she has released nine albums, highlights of which include Running Up That Hill, Babooshka, The Man with the Child in His Eyes, and Don't Give Up (with Peter Gabriel). what i love most about Kate Bush is her ability to convey emotion with her music. so many of her songs give me goosebumps and make my eyes water (see below), and thus i hereby induct her into the Loose Leaf Tigers Hall of Dames.



have a fantastic weekend everyone!