SELF PORTRAIT THURSDAY!
11.19.09
But when I found myself getting v. stressed out by my project, I realized I needed a break.
This was the perfect distraction.
I love sitting out in the hallway of my studio because I like to look out at the birds and the water and such.
For at least five minutes or so.
I'm a week late posting this, but here's the screen shot of the Daily Candy feature of Take Off Your Clothes:
House music has always veered between having a sense of humour about itself and being thoroughly up its own arse. Tracks have trodden the very thin line between novelty, kitsch and playfulness - witness the differences between The Prodigy's "Charlie" (which, even at 180bpm, sounds twice as slow now as it did in my head at the time), Urban Hype's "Trip To Trumpton" and plummeting to new depths with Doctor Spin's "Tetris".
Set against this backdrop was N-Trance who are an odd datum on the arc of early to mid nineties techno. Their first demo was an (unreleased?) rave version of the theme tune to kids' tv program "Roobarb and Custard" but in '92 they put out "Set You Free" - a genuine, euphoric, hands in air rave anthem.
and then the slightly less goofy (but only just) with their take on Rod Stewart's "Do Ya Think I'm Sexy?"
The funny thing about both of those were that, along side long term collaborator and vocalist Kelly Llorenna they drafted in Ricardo Da Force who was, at the time, most famous for being the some time vocalist for the KLF who probably challenged the piss taking/completely credible boundaries more than anyone else before or since.
But more on that next week ...
Also: by date myself I mean - "give clues as to my age" not "pick myself up, take myself out to dinner and then hence to watch a movie before attempting to indulge in a little light self-frottaging and then ending the evening early because I have a headache and I have to get up early and telling myself that I really like me but I'm not really in a relationship place right now"
Gosh, I'm glad we got that cleared up.
SELF PORTRAIT THURSDAY!
11.12.09
Yes, finally back.
But all I do is work now, so I don't really have time to make myself look presentable.
This explains why I look so furry and frumpy. I probably haven't shaved in a month.
(My facial hair grows slowly.)
I don't mean to be a hater, but hand knitting is for schmucks.
No, that's not true. I was just hand knitting last night. And I often hand knit.
(But when I'm away from my machine, I long for it.)
Seriously, though...
The satisfaction and ideas come pouring out on a machine.
Good news:
Yesterday Ben and I were asked by our old roommate Talena if we could watch Osa the chihuahua this weekend while there is construction done in her new apartment! =)
To celebrate, I'm including some videos of Ben and I spending time with Osa.
This is Ben making Osa sing:
It's fun to make her howl because she purses her lips.
AND she starts to hack/cough like she's a smoker.
But my NUMBER ONE FAVORITE THING to do is this:
I'm still waiting for the day she leaps up and bites me in the face.
But I think she's too sweet for that.
I think I'm more of a dog person now.
I had a bad cat experience at my last apartment with Gordo. He was too needy. Shed too much. Ate too much, ate when nervous, ate until he vomited. It all made me not want to leave my room.
Dogs are so much better, I think.
In other good news, Ben J. was featured on Daily Candy yesterday!
It is an AMAZING write-up.
I am v. proud.
P.S.
I might do a self portrait later...
Apparently #musicmonday is a trending topic on the Twitters - bunch of bloody Johnny Come Latelys. Some of us have been here every Monday morning (for various definitions of 'every', 'monday' and 'morning'), mining the rich vein of at-least-a-decade-old music for nuggets and gems to present you with. Although I'll concede that it may be closer to a family cat, possibly elderly and constantly smelling faintly of urine, 'presenting' you with a the mutilated carcass of a songbird than to a lover presenting you with a platter of the finest silks, gems and perfumes purchasable.
Either way - I forge on, secure in the knowledge that I'll be here long after those young whipper snappers have got tired and moved on to new things.
Anyway - my American friends will be blissfully unaware that for British soap operas are completely unlike their Yankee brethren. For a start there are no impossibly glamorous people or complicated plots involving hitherto unknown twin siblings, murders and lengthy comas. Or vampires. No British soaps, such as "East Enders" are mostly populated by grim, ugly people living grim, ugly lives in grim, ugly surroundings. See this comparison for example:
Anyway, when we want to import a little glamour we instead turned to two Australian soaps - "Neighbours" (24 years old this year) and "Home and Away" (22 years old this year). I mean, when I say glamour it's still no "Stairwells of Time" they're are still set in mundane locations - a Melbourne suburb and small, coastal town near Sydney respectively - after all, and the people them selves are pretty ordinary.
But they boast a startlingly accomplished and wide spread alumni amongst the cast. Probably the most famous, is of course, Ms Kylie Minogue, now so famous that her surname has withered and dropped off with disuse, like an unused appendix. Kylie played tomboyish greasemonkey Charlene Ramsey in Neighbours
Which is, to say, you probably didn't realise it but there are Australians everywhere. Do you really know your friends and neighbours? Do they ever casually "chuck" a "shrimp" on the "barbie"? Do you ever see them with faint traces on zinc on their noses? These and more may be an indication that you have an Australian infestation. You have been warned.
Anyway - so on to the main point of this increasingly rambling and incoherent post. 90s music. And Australians. Who were in soap operas.
Oh, look it's adorable elfin faced pixie Natalie Imbrugliagaliagala looking all quirky and alternative
Christ, bet you'd never thought you'd find a musical blog which mentioned Natalie Imbruglalalaiglia and Wolfsheim in the same post.
Anyway, somewhat little known fact - Ms Imbruglaglaglala didn't write (and by 'write' I mean, 'was given the song by one of the 5 pop composer supremos who secretely write about 90% of stuff that's in the charts these days') "Torn" it was originally a 1991 track by a Swedish band called Ednaswap
which was then covered by Danish singer Lis Sørensen as "Burnt" in 1993 (in Danish - listen to it, it will mildly freak you out)
Of course the best version ever done was Johann Lippowitz's mime version
This week my sister shop, TAKE OFF YOUR CLOTHES, is listing some new fall-winter items while working on the TOYC spring-summer collection.
First, the double t-shirt dress is now offered in navy:
Also, appropriate for fall/winter, the v. popular dress is now available in a long-sleeve version:
And finally there is the GHOST JACKET:
I have one in dark grey, and it has been very good to me during these chilly fall days.
There are some other reasons I love this jacket:
-It's got a 2-way zipper in the front.
-To quote Ben J.: "2 crew neck sweatshirts reconfigured : neckline = armhole, one sleeve = collar/hood, one sleeve divided = deep cowl pocket + sleeve extension"
Also, it is very roomy like a poncho, but it rises up in the front and back. That way, your legs still get seen and have some length.
Ben will be listing some other items, so keep an eye out!
Back to work for us!
xo
c
Placebo are one of those bands that I always feel oddly guilty about enjoying which is odd because "Nancy Boy" is damn fine blistering 3 minute pop song which lovely crunchy guitars and a thumping bass line. I mean the video's a little bit "Art school student gets his 'alternative' friends together and then gets a bit enthusiastic with the Inferno effects plugins" but I never seem to get tired of listening to the song itself
As a bonus track - not strictly 90s but I really like the Placebo cover of Kate Bush's "Running Up That Hill" which Q magazine memorably described as "sound[ing] more like a 'pact with the Devil' than the original 'deal with God'"
even if the video is like a better dressed emo version of Feeder's "Just A Day" (which for some reason I can't help watching every time it comes on)
Hmm - no nerdy music factoids so far. Errm. Ok - the reason why drummer Steve Hewitt is blurred out in the Nancy Boy video is because he was still contractually obliged to a band on another label at the time.
"Economists should listen more to techies on what techs will be feasible at what costs, but techies should also listen more to economists on the social implications of tech costs. Alas, just as economists prefer to rely on their intuitive folk tech forecasts, techies prefer to rely instead on their intuitive folk economics."
