dreamy...

Yuval Hen's dreamy photography, spotted via lace & tea

 

tip top new year

 

if you don't fancy sparkle for new year...how about a party dress and a dandy titfer, ears/antlers optional (images via apartment 34)...now hop-it!

papal picado

ooh...loving this amazing piece, in the mexican Dia de los Muertos style, spotted via greedy girl .... wish i had the bucks for this, would be perfect for future Halloween parties!

pierrot & pierrette

 

so...i've been thinking a lot about  Pierrot & Pierrette (or Pirouette) lately...they crept into my subconscious a while back, like a blast from the past, and then - wouldn't you know it - the very next day i saw a whole bunch of sad and abandoned Pierrot figurines in a charity shop.  i managed to resist the strong urge to snap them up (only slightly regretting it now) but it made me think i really want to do that look at my next fancy dress outing -  so i've been looking for bits and bobs like this hat and maybe a ruffle....which i've always wanted an excuse to buy!

 

i remember, as a teenager in the 80s, the mad craze for Pierrot related nick-nacks, posters and whatnot  - which reached mass hysteria levels when David Bowie dressed as the little French clown in his Ashes to Ashes video....

and Steve Strange (who had a bit part in Bowie's video) took the whole white clown face up a notch with the Visage track Fade to Grey video......classic.

secret cinema - november'10

i've talked about the fabulous secret cinema before here and have had to resist writing about my recent trip until now as this time the film was on for a fortnight - so the contents of the event and film had to be kept secret till the last screening.  now that everyone knows that it was 1975 classic One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest i am free to post photos from our trip last saturday (photos courtesy of Faddy Shamas & Noreen Meehan).  what a gas! initially we had to congregate outside Ladbroke Grove tube station equipped with dressing gowns, slippers (i wore my lovely monster feet), a toothbrush, a photo of someone/thing we love (i took a photo of my bicycle) and a stamp (all props to be used later on).  there we were met by serious looking american-accented orderlies in white outfits with black bow ties - at which point our suspicions were confirmed that it was definitely 'Cuckoo'. we were then herded round the back streets to reach an abandoned part of a local community hospital where we were handed our patient gowns and told to go inside the 'asylum' for our journey to begin.  the SC crew really did a great job with the whole affair - with doctors doling out assessments and prescriptions, medication stations to collect booze, art, yoga and music therapy areas and food (calpol flavoured donuts!) provided by the brilliant Bompas & Parr  - who were also experimenting with ether cocktails which resulted in some rather interesting effects.  we had so much fun exploring the venue and chatting to the "patients" that i must admit i sadly missed most of the film - but the whole experience was fantastic and i'm looking forward to the next one.

 Niel & I...on our way to the asylum...

 Faddy & I have a lucid moment...

 

 

 

 Nurse Ratchett gives me the evil eye...

 

 Doctor, Doctor...there's something wrong with my feet...

 a spot of group therapy

 i wonder if now is the time to raise my suspicions about this doctor's credentials

 

 

 

 

 

 Mandy participates in a little music therapy...

interestingly the Oregon State Insame Asylum, where the film was shot (tho not the location in the book)  has been in the news lately because part of it isre-opening after some refurbishment.

also...rather strangely, i came across this fascinating article the other day about "cremains" found in tins at the asylum.  the collection of copper urns came to light in 1914 when the state decided to use the land where dead inmates had been buried so they exhumed the bodies, cremated them and put them into these tins - they all originally had labels identifying whose remains were contained within but most have decayed and disappeared over the years. in 2005 photographer David Maisel made a book of photographs of the tins - creepy but beautiful.

 

dress up heaven

 

OHMYGOD...i think i have just found the perfect dress up outfit for my next outing...whatever it is...from this great site Kigu.  Kigus (short for 'kigurami' which translates as 'costumed animal character') are  Japanese animal suits - to be worn out and about or as pjs and popular amongst the whole 'cos play' craze types. Comfy and unrestricting they are the perfect fancy dress option...tho i could get quite addicted to wearing them round the house in these cold months!  I quite fancy the panda...tho wouldn't mind a custom made penguin!

tail

i want this tail so baaaaaad!!!!  especially since there seem to be a few foxes round my way at the moment (as mentioned here)...and spotted another one today....

shark mask

i really really want one of these!!!  i can't seem to find where to get one...yet.  and look at these why don't they make them for ADULTS?!!!

 

oh hang on there is...here

sister of perpetual devotion...and naughtiness

whilst up in the Cotswolds trawling through charity and antique shops  i purchased this fabulous oil painting (1878)....rather looks like Jo in her fancy dress outfit doesn't it...the same look of devotion...or is that something else?! 

it now has pride of place above my bed...much to the consternation of my catholic friends!

big brother mania

whilest down in the cotswolds we watched the final of this year's big brother...Jo and I having been avid fans for the past 10 (11 years) shows! we did panic slightly when the powercut happened but thankfully it was all fixed in time.  we were all jollied up from our fancy dress birthday party and enjoyed every minute...especially with Josie winning (well deserved)...tho i was amazed that Dave the monk was 2nd...can't believe he was in it so long!

we had been lucky enough to go to the live eviction the previous week...courtesy of Jo's friend Tammy who managed to wangle us a VIP invite via a friend who works on the show.  we had an absolute riot - tho got into trouble as we went mising (ie for a drink and a fag round the back of the bar) and caused a "security situation"...i guess they were worried we'd jump the wall and end up in the HOUSE! 

we had a birdseye view of the four evictions (Steve, Corine, Sam Pepper and John James) and had a giggle with the security personnel.  i decided to re-introduce "Gull Girl" and wear my seagull hat - so we could be spotted on the telly - but as it turned out we were next to the paps and therefore not filmed...shame...or not probably! 

just a few more weeks and it will all be over as the final Ultimate Big Brother competition is currently playing out for the winner of all winners to be crowned.  whatever will i do with myself next summer...for all its faults (and there have been many, i know)...its been an interesting and entertaining experiment in reality tv!