Woody Allen's latest: Vicky Cristina Barcelona

Alright, so new Woody Allen may not quite be what old Woody Allen was, but hey, I love the guy, and think his honest humour and realistic dialogue are funny as hell. His latest film, due out in August, seems like it may be on the mark (the last decade of Woody's films have been hit or miss). Take a little gander at the trailers below. The only problem I may have when watching this film is dissociating Javier Bardem from his role as a psychotic killing machine in No Country for Old Men.

I am not one for "rom-coms"; trust me, I would normally rather use a public toilet in Vancouver's DTES than waste an hour and a half of my life watching a typical romantic comedy. However, give me a Woody, and I'll break the genre barrier rules and watch. Time well spent.

One Little Plane

If you want to hear a wonderful, lighthearted little song, click here. Comparable to an eclectic mixture of Joanna Newsom (minus her signature "untrainable" sound, of course; Newsom's voice is hard to match) and a less soulful Cat Power, One Little Plane's song Lotus Flower is a fun, breezy listen that makes me feel like dressing up and dancing with myself in front of the mirror. Under this sometimes bashful exterior, I am really a vivacious little girl wearing her mother's pumps and pearls.

Non-Oral Propellers

I wonder what are in the pockets of musicians while on stage?
I think this question may make for a fascinating coffee table book compiled of photographs of the contents of the emptied pockets of musicians all over the globe.
Perhaps I could turn this idea into a marketable game. "Can you guess 6 of the 8 items found in Bjork's pockets!?" (Perhaps this is a sub-par example since I rarely see Bjork wearing clothing with pockets while on stage, but you get the idea).
Maybe I am taking too keen an interest in this topic, but really, what do you think?


(There sure are no pockets here)

The Early Bird gets the Snake

So
Worth
Waking
Up
At
6 am.

Tick tock, tick tock

I value the opinions of the cunning review staff at Pitchfork media. It’s funny how pesky tasks like unlocking a door, or trying on clothes in a store change room, or brushing your teeth, seem to provoke the urge to urinate. Sometimes I like to play a game with myself where I envision a person I know and then match them with the first colour that pops into my mind when I think of them. It is so strange how we see so many new faces every single day and never think twice about the elements in those individual’s daily lives. I have such fond memories of taking my time strolling through the Asian markets shopping for produce in Kitsilano. While lying in bed, sometimes I can’t go to sleep without straightening something up, or completing some frivolous task that could surely wait until morning. Rather than “not enough” hours in the day, I find that there are often “too many”.

Peacock

I just cannot stop thinking about this stunning dress by Alexander McQueen. Unfortunately, I just saw that it was photographed in this month's issue of Vogue by Annie Leibovitz on Sarah Jessica Parker. This somehow makes it less appealing to me, but only symbolically, not in terms of its solid, ornate beauty. The peacock has become somewhat of a fascination for me since I first laid eyes on the dress. Black peacocks do not exist, however white ones do, and I must say, they are magnificent looking creatures.


Funny enough, the word peacock can also refer to someone who is vain...hhhmmm...something to think about.

Alexander McQueen's Golden Peacocks

This Fall 2008 runway show is absolutely outstanding. The dress at 4:25 in the video is utter perfection. McQueen himself is personally so understated (albeit, controversial!), however his designs certainly are not. In fact, he may just have proven himself as an artistic genius with this collection. "Well done" does not even begin to describe the success of his flawlessly thought out craftsmanship and structural detailing in every aspect, and piece in this show. As one fashion journalist described after watching the collection, "It's like you never have to see anything else ever again."

Big Ideas (don't get any)

This Radiohead remix for Nude is truly genius. Visit James Houston's explanation behind the video here

Watch Out

Hello.
My name is wonderful bright purple fan clutch with a matching liner made of supple suede.
You may will see me out in the evenings in downtown London from now on.
My owner quite relishes that I have a curvaceous figure and a tassel zipper.
You love me, don’t you?

The Secret World of Og

I used to have two recurring dreams when I was younger, but haven't had one for about 6 years now.

The first one involved a big open clearing with a big, dark body of water with a wall blocking the other side of it. I would swing on a vine into the clearing and end up in the water, but was always scared of what lay beneath the surface. The closer toward the wall I went, the deeper and darker and scarier the water became. There were sharks once, eels often, slimy things, and sometimes a boat came to rescue me. I always seemed to wake up around this point.

The second was a dream where I would find a particular place on the carpet in my parents room and jump or dive or dissolve into it and go to a whole different place beneath the surface, crawling through tunnels to get there. Sometimes I would climb through a tiny vent to get to this world below, too. Once I was down there, I was in a beautifully ornate, old house, rich with fabrics and texture and patterns on almost every surface. I don't remember what exactly happened when I would go to this house through the tunnels, and never saw the outside of it.

This second dream reminds me of one of the most vividly remembered books of my childhood, The Secret World of Og. There is undoubtedly a connection between the recurring dream and that Pierre Berton book. I saw the illustrated copy with the original cover I remember at Chapters a few weeks ago. I think my imaginative climax peaked while reading this book. I wish I could go back to that place.