loose leaf musicology

hello my darling readers,

my apologies for not having written much in the last two days. i was struck with a wee bout of blogger's block, in light of which i have decided to make a few additions to my daily postings. the first of said additions will be a weekly playlist, generally themed but periodically random. i am a passionate lover of music and am excited to share some of my favourites with you! if nothing else, these posts will give you some music to read by :)

given that Valentine's day looms, here are 10 beautiful tunes i've entitled Our Way to Fall: songs in the key of love. the tenth is a video, cuz i couldn't find the version i love on the site i was using (playlist.com)

i'd love to take your requests as well! please leave a comment suggesting a theme for a playlist (anything at all, it could be a random word if you like) and i'll post one for you. whadaya think?

R.I.P. J.D. Salinger (January 1, 1919 – January 27, 2010)

all the king's women #17 - stella stevens

born Estelle Caro Eggleston in Hot Coffee, Mississippi in 1938, actress Stella Stevens was discovered while modeling in the tea room of Goldsmith's Department Store in Memphis, Tennessee. by this time, Stella had already been married at age 15, given birth to a son (Andrew Stevens) at 16, and divorced at 17 years old.


in 1959, Stevens signed her first contract with Paramount Pictures. she shared the 1960 Golden Globe for Most Promising Newcomer - Female, with Tuesday Weld, Angie Dickinson and Janet Munro. during the 60s, Stella was one of the ten most photographed women in the world, and her Playboy centerfold became one of the magazine's most popular issues.




in 1962, Stevens starred opposite Elvis in Girls! Girls! Girls! (not one of Elvis' best, to say the least, all though it does contain one of my favourite performances -Return to Sender- in which Elvis delivers an impressive homage to Jackie Wilson). Stella plays club singer Robin, one of two women between whom Elvis' character is torn. reportedly, Stella did not want to do this film and her protests nearly had her suspended by Paramount. she has stated several times that she refuses to watch it.

(above and below with Girls! Girls! Girls! costar Laurel Goodwin)

Stella worked with some of the biggest names of her day during her movie career, including Dean Martin, Jerry Lewis, Glenn Ford and Bobby Darin. the 1970s would see her moving to the small screen with numerous appearances in TV movies and roles on General Hospital and Santa Barbara. Stevens has also produced and directed two films: The American Heroine (1979) and The Ranch (1989), and published a novel, Razzle Dazzle, whose main character, Johnny Gault, was inspired by Elvis. for more on her continuing career, visit Stella's official site here.

(with Jerry Lewis in The Nutty Professor)

romper room

on the off chance that you haven't already seen the soft and seductive styles of Alexandra Grecco on a thousand other blogs, you simply must have a peek.

jenny scobel

Ohio born painter Jenny Scobel uses graphite and oil paints on wood panels to create stunning, often somber portraits against peculiar and fascinating backdrops. j'aime.

erwin olaf

pretty pretty portraits by Erwin Olaf. see more of his work here.

R.I.P. Jean Simmons (January 31, 1929 – January 22, 2010)

how f*cking romantic

i loves me The Magnetic Fields. i believe 69 Long Songs to be one of the most brilliant collections of music ever produced, and Stephin Merritt to be an absolute genius. so imagine my joy when i discovered that a group of London based comicbook artists, illustrators and writers have set out to illustrate all 69 songs and will be posting it all on their website!! :D i've posted my favourite so far, drawn by Tom Humberstone, along with the song it was inspired by (see above). enjoy, and have a fabulous weekend! xo [click on images to enlarge]

yo quiero chihuahua

i love animals of all sorts, but i've always been more of a big dog person than a small dog person. that is, until i met Rudy. now i'm so completely smitten with the wee ones and have developed a recent interest in chihuahuas (who knew?). so this morning when i came across kanonyobo's photo set on flickr, i just about squealed aloud. she takes the most adorable photos of her sweet little 'Kanon', and there are tonnes more of them here. what a cutey, hey? ima take photos of Rudy when i get home :)

adult swim

kay, i know it's still the dead of winter for those of us up here in the northern hemisphere, but have you people seen the new arrivals in the swim section at anthropologie?! gorgeous. no? the dominoe bikini is my favourite. ima marry it.

yesterday's muse #17 - georgia hamilton

those of you who are familiar with this series will know that i normally post a brief biography of the featured fashion model of yesteryear to accompany the photos, but i'm afraid miss Georgia Hamilton remains a mystery. i've searched the internet high and low and found no information on this beautiful and prolific model from the 40s and 50s. if anyone has any knowledge of her life, please let me know. in the meantime, enjoy these photos of a the mysterious muse.

packing and unpacking

here is an example of incredible packaging...

...and a little store in London that prides itself on the absence thereof.

shower the people

check out these incredible oil paintings by Alyssa Monks. see more of her work here.