Santa photo 1973

 

In this episode Mum & Baby get new shoes, and I get a bit addicted to Twitter

Bubs and I got some new shoes last weekend. From Pumpkin Patch. She got some cute lavender spotty numbers and I got these sneakery/boat shoes. I don’t let the fact that my new shoes are aimed at 5- 11 year old girls rain on my floral parade.

My little shopping outlet was floral in tone. Nice rose bedecked tank dress from Jay Jays. Heck it’s gotta be either roses or sequins these days to take my fancy. Or some variation on a black cardy, shrug, over top.

Cup and Show Week. Cup Day is the Decline and Fall of Rome in miniature – I loved this article by Philip Matthews Glamour and Glitz Yeah right. It’s dryly amused tone seemed to capture L’essence du Cup Day (an occasion which was always endlessly combed over each year in detail by the gossip section of society mag Avenues):

First sight as we cross over: a guy urinating against a fence. Is he in shorts, a kilt or has he just lost the bottom half of his trousers during the course of his day? Anyone’s guess.
It’s mid-afternoon. The girls are starting to stagger and the guys are starting to pick fights with each other.
We got our first sighting of that Cup Day icon – a drunk woman in a mini-skirt carried out by two blokes and followed by security – about an hour earlier. It’s when the event stopped being sedate and started to become its opposite.
Try to put your finger on the mood out here in no-man’s land. It’s about nothing but drinking.
Police and bored security guards lean against a fence, waiting for taunts and play-fights to get serious.

It’s Show Day in Christchurch, often a scorchingly hot one but today it’s nippy and having a relaxing at home day watching Star Trek, eating Twisties, drinking Coke and sifting about. Lovely really.  And hopefully at some stage over the long weekend we’ll make it to 2012. Disaster squared, exponential, and to the max.

Over on the CCL Blog I looked at:

• Curiosities of Literature
• A comic about mathematics and Bertrand Russell?

In recent TWitaction:

• I try a new technique to deal with impoliteness and bad manners:
  Old people tooted revved and tried to run me over outside Farmer carpark so I smiled, turned and waved as if I was the Queen. Regal serve!
• Patrick Wolf’s gorgeous new video Damaris tingles heartstrings
• Headline of the day – ‘Kitten demand outstrips supply’ a spot of Keynesian kitten economics
• Othello Woolf – ‘enervated white funk’ + a boy with a literary name = gotta hear me some (yes it is good)
• #unseenprequels is an addictive meme – my contribs include Evening of the Living Living, Fiance of Chucky
• and to #collectivenouns I give an ella-ella of umbrellas and a holden of bogan
• typographical delights at typenuts.com
• Oh and my three copies of Ivanhoe arrived this week.

 

Title-ation

 

IMG_0346

Originally uploaded by kebabette

Who could resist purchasing alluring paperbacks like these?

I think the top title somewhat contradicts itself … you can’t keep those erotically delighting techniques secret if you write a whole dang book about it can you?

 

Sproglets do Halloween

 

IMG_0426

Originally uploaded by kebabette

We had a wonderful party with scary foods and lovely costumed babies providing great entertainment. The photo doesn’t convey the great screeching that was going on …

 

Librarians like shoes as much as cardies, buns and sexy spectacles

Katie at work has inaugurated us into Funky Shoes-day Tuesday a chance to celebrate footwear in all its arch glory. Though this wasn’t on a Tuesday, she liked the pink on pinkery

 

Battlestar New Romantica

Thank to The Guardian for the headline & the news …

Prepare yourselves, retro-pop fans, for Battlestar New Romantica: The Next Generation. Whispers from the A&R frontline suggest that Nitevisions – the electro duo comprising Andy and James Taylor, sons (respectively) of Duran Duran’s Andy and Roger Taylor – are in discussion with labels. At the same time an as-yet-unnamed act including Roman Kemp, son of Spandau Ballet’s Martin, have recently been snapped up by Mercury.

What can I say but SQUUEEEEE!
Take a look at those likely Taylor lads. More corrrr!!! than their Dads even.

 

Sartorial eloquence – Hosiery, leggings, tights etc

As a cheapo fashionista, I like hosiery – it can change the simplest outfit and adds that critical zush factor.  Stop here if you don’t like footless tights – I confess right now I adore the blighters.

My hosiery tips:

1. Wear them inside out. Some tights are pretty cool on the reverse side. I’ve got a pair of red footless tights with white spots and when you wear them inside out they have a cool textured heraldic emblem type shape. Double the value!
2. If your tights go in the toes, or ankles etc, chop them into footless tights.
3. Get them cheap. They often get reduced at the end of the season – there are bargains to be had. Watch out for Farmers – their sale days often include 30% off hosiery and socks.
4. Get experimental. Now that hosiery is in fashion, you can buy some really odd, funky ones – and you don’t have to break the bank.
5. Layer your tights. Coloured opaques under fishnets, two different colours together can create a new unusual shade. I’ve got a pair of gold footless tights that looked a bit sickly – but when I layered a pair of lacey black numbers on top they looked luxe.
6. Clash/match/tone with your clothes and footwear – for all sorts of effects. Don’t be too shy to try.
7. Get ideas from the streets, mags, internet, Flickr …

 

Linkarama

Sabrina gives it some hip and some hop

This time it’s all about the links, once I’ve been sitting on so to speak:

• Thanks Joycee for this bevy of frocks, so apt for spring Mod Retro Indie clothing …
• SOS Store – feeling those Casio and Nixon watches and the sexy sneaks that pump my pumps
• 18th century naughty style graphic novel  Scarlet takes Manhattan
• Vogue archives
• Evil cakes
• Library fashion
• One for us Polaroid lovers to play with (Tip o’the hat to Fraserhead – and congrats on the fab new Joint website) http://www.poladroid.net/
• Our lone Film Festival effort Dead Snow – Nazi zombies. Hardly need to say more.

In music news:

• Manics to get remixed
• I had a spot on The Joint – much good fun
• Coming to NZ this year are two of my heroes. Jarvis Cocker is here in December and Lloyd Cole is coming back to New Zealand in October! Yes Lloyd I am ready to be heartbroken.

A great addition to the genre of answer songs. Remember this one?

Eamon’s heartfelt plea of “eff it I don’t want you back” was answered by Frankee who gave it right back. Classy

Could this be the coolest author ever? I give you Matthew Reilly (thanks to the wonderful Guardian book blogs and their commenters)
“Reilly owns and drives a De Lorean, modified to have the driver’s seat on the right-hand side, one of only a few in Australia. He also has a life-size replica of Han Solo encased in carbonite”

Plus his books sound quite special:

Many of Reilly’s heroes are men with distinguishing features, three of them acquired during a previous life-defining experience; the exception, William Race, the hero of Temple, has a triangular birthmark on his cheek just under his left eye. Shane Schofield, nicknamed “Scarecrow”, the hero of Ice Station and its sequels Area 7, Hell Island and Scarecrow, bears two scars across his eyes from when he was captured by Bosnians, after his Harrier was shot down, during his interrogation. Stephen Swain, the main character of Contest, has a scar on his upper lip from when he confronted a gunman in the hospital where he worked. The Australian hero of Seven Ancient Wonders, Jack West Jr, has a bionic arm from when he was forced to plunge his hand through a wall of lava to escape a room.

 

I’ve moved to WordPress …

since all the other blogs I work on are here I thought I’d keep it all in the family.

 

Party like it’s 1986 everybody Wang Chung tonight

Yearbook Yourself 1986
Originally uploaded by kebabette

Ok tonight is clearly the night for silly picture making. Thanks Mo-mo for providing a flock of giggles with yearbookyourself.com

So 1986 or 1964 for me I think.

Most likely the 80s …

Notable hits in 1986:
* “Addicted To Love” – Robert Palmer
* “Breakout” – Swing Out Sister
* “Bigmouth Strikes Again”- The Smiths
* “Big Time” – Peter Gabriel
* “Bizarre Love Triangle” – New Order
* “Captain of Her Heart” – Double
* “Chain Reaction” – Diana Ross
* “Digging Your Scene” – The Blow Monkeys
* “Everybody Have Fun Tonight” – Wang Chung
* “Holding Back the Years” – Simply Red
* “Holding Out For A Hero” – Bonnie Tyler
* “Kiss” – Prince and the Revolution
* “Livin’ On a Prayer – Bon Jovi
* “Lessons in Love” – Level 42
* “Mad About You” – Belinda Carlisle
* “Manic Monday” – The Bangles
* “Notorious” – Duran Duran
* “A Question of Lust” – Depeche Mode
* “Rock Me Amadeus” – Falco
* “Sledgehammer” – Peter Gabriel
* “Sometimes” – Erasure
* “The Sun Always Shines On TV” – a-ha
* “The Sweetest Taboo” – Sade
* “System Addict” – Five Star
* “Take My Breath Away” – Berlin
* “The Final Countdown” – Europe
* “Throw Your Arms Around Me” – Hunters + Collectors
* “True Colors” – Cyndi Lauper
* “Two Of Hearts” – Stacey Q
* “Venus” – Bananarama
* “Walk This Way” – Run DMC featuring Aerosmith
* “We Built This City” – Starship
* “West End Girls” – Pet Shop Boys
* “Word Up”- Cameo
* “(You Gotta) Fight For Your Right (To Party)” – Beastie Boys
* “You Give Love a Bad Name” – Bon Jovi