just lettin' you know...

installation by Martin Creed

video vendredi - raveonettes

i just came across this acoustic versionof the Raveonettes' Dead Sound, which is just as beautiful as the original. love love love.
have an excellent weekend and try to let off some steam. i know i need to :)

mary jane ansell

Mary Jane Ansell's work is so soft and powerful. i almost wanna curl up in bed with it. yet another extraordinary artist i found via Paintblog.

dr. Z and the women

i was recently approached to write a guest post by the marvelous Tara of Nothing Elegant, and am thrilled to be part of her blog! if you haven't already been there, you really must go, and if you're coming from there and have never been here, then welcome!

so, i have devised a double decker dames post concerning two beautiful and talented actresses (Geraldine Chaplin and Julie Christie), who starred in the wintery masterpiece Dr Zhivago (1965) (which, incidentally, was the movie my parents saw on their first date) (...'course, their divorced now, but that's beside the point). you'll find Julie's post here, and Gerladine's over there! without further ado...

Julie Frances Christie was born in Assam, India in 1941. her father ran a tea plantation in what was then a part of the British empire, and her mother was a Welsh painter. her parents divorced when she was young and Julie moved to rural Wales with her mother. as a teenager, Christie finished her studies in Paris where she first had a taste of the bohemian, and became enamoured with the artist's way of life.

Christie's role in Dr. Zhivago coincides with the beginning of her international recognition, having been known in the United Kingdom since her breakout role in a 1961 BBC sci-fi series called A for Andromeda.

[doesn't she look so much like Robin Wright Penn here?!]

highlights of Julie's early film career include Darling(1965), for which she won an Academy award for Best Actress, Francois Truffaut's Farenheit 451 (1966), and Far from the Maddening Crowd(1967), opposite a young and surprisingly handsome Terrance Stamp, who had been Christie's lover before she became famous.

in 1967, Christie moved to Hollywood, where she began a high profile, seven year relationship with actor Warren Beatty. Beatty once described Christie as "the most beautiful and at the same time the most nervous person I had ever known." at the height of her career Julie stepped away from the limelight (and many hold her affair with Beatty responsible). she began turning down pivotal roles that would take other actresses to the Academy Awards. in the mid 1970s, her affair with Beatty came to an end, but the two remained close friends and worked together in Shampoo (1975) and Heaven Can Wait (1978).

Christie moved back to the UK where she became a champion for animal rights and nuclear disarmament. later career highlights include a renaissance of sorts in Kenneth Branagh's Hamlet (1996), and an absolutely superb-go-and-see-it-if-you-haven't-already-'cause-you'll-love-her performance in Away From Her (2006).

inducting Julie Christie into the Hall of Dames was only a matter of time. i mean the woman has inspired love songs by famous rock idols, and she hangs out with Shirley MacLaine, Faye Dunaway and Catherine Deneuve (!) what i wouldn't give to be invited to that dinner party!

if you've enjoyed this post (or even if you haven't), please pop by Tara's blog to read the companion piece on Julie's Zhivago costar Geraldine Chaplin (yes, Charlie's daughter). thanks so much for coming by!

many thanks

weeee! i've received an award from one of my favourite blogs: Greetz From Tiz. what a wonderful surprise! i'm to give one word answers to the following questions, and then nominate ten other blogs. here goes...

1.Where is your phone? purse
2.Your hair? transitional
3.Your Mother? angel
4.Your Father? chilly
5.Your favourite food? cheese
6.Your dream last night? mountains
7.Your favourite drink? pino
8.Your dream/goal? enlightenment
9.What room are you in? office
10.Your hobbie? many
11.Your fear? failure
(12. is missing)
13.Where were you last night? couch
14.Something that your not? perfect
15.Muffins? muffincaps
16.Wishlist item? car
17.Where did you grow up? Ontario
18.Last thing you did? smoke
19.What are you wearing? black
20.Your TV? OnDemand
21.Your pets? gremlins
22.Friends? irreplaceable
23.Your life? draft
24.Your mood? bemused
25.Missing someone? mentor
26.Vehicle? streetcar
27.Something your not wearing? gitch ;)
28.Your favourite store? ValueVillage
29.Your Favourite colour? red
30.When was the last time you laughed? #27.
31.The last time you cried? ExtremeMakeover:HomeEdition
32.Your best friend? husband
33.One place that I go to over and over? Graceland
34.Facebook? guilty
35.Favourite place to eat? buffet

that was fun! now, to nominate 10 blogs. here are 3 of my favourite blogs, followed by 7 that i've only recently discovered, and am enjoying very much...

Nothing Elegant, Q's Daydream, The Cupcake Diary, Dizzy Dame, Anastasia Drawing and Dreaming, My Creative Fling, Sacaton June, Another Brick in the Narwhal, Spider, Spin me a Story, Kitty Stampede

yesterday's muse #14 - ann gunning

there is very little information available about the life of 50s super model Ann Gunning. all i could dig up was that Ann's career was launched in Ireland in 1953, when she was introduced to photographer Milton Greene. Greene had come to Ireland to photograph a new rising designer by the name of Sybil Connelly. after working with Greene, Ann went on to be photographed by the greatest photographers of the day.




Ann Gunning shown here with Fiona Campbell-Walter

a rose, by any other name, would smell as sweet (even in the fall)

vintage enamel earrings

Betsy Johnson Green With Envy Dress

Whirlwind of Wonder Frock

Rose Around the Ring

Bouquet of Roses heels

video vendredi - allison schulnik

watch this strange and captivating video for Grizzly Bear's "Ready, Able" by artist Allison Schulnik, and have a magnificent weekend! xo

change starts with your underwear

go check out Pact, an awesome company who make stylish and comfy underwear for a good cause. 10% of each sale helps to protect our oceans and forests and to promote literacy. watch their new video too.

james chronister

believe it or not, these are oil paintings (!). see more of James Chronister's astonishingly beautiful work here.

emily cross

i'm loving talented young artist Emily Cross' flickr stream and blog. her photographs make me want to climb inside them and be in the moments that she captures.

hall of dames - cathy moriarty

Cathy Moriarty was graduating highschool when she was cast as Vickie LaMotta in Raging Bull (1980), a performance that would earn her a nomination for a best supporting actress Oscar. poor reviews for her second film, Neighbors (1981), and a serious automobile accident the following year, contributed to a 6 year absence from the screen.


in the years after her return to the screen, Cathy would become famous for playing tough, often acerbic characters. some of my favourites include Soapdish (1991), The Mambo Kings (1992), Dream With the Fishes (1997) and But I'm a Cheerleader (1999).


Moriarty was born in the Bronx in 1960, to Irish Catholic parents. she married her first husband, Carmine D'Anna in 1981, and divorced him 7 years later. Cathy has been married to her second husband, Joseph Gentile, since 1999. Joseph and Cathy have three children: twins Joseph and Catherine, and daughter Annabella Rose. Moriarty and Richard Palmer (husband of Raquel Welch), are co-owners of the Mulberry Street Pizza restaurants, boasting three locations around L.A..



Cathy's smoky voice; her quirky yet sultry strength; and her intelligent role choices, make her what i consider to be one of the sexiest women over 40 in film and television today. thus, i hereby induct Dame Cathy in to the Loose Leaf Tigers Hall of Dames.

unplug

Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that
will endure as long as life lasts.

- Rachel Carson

check out this fantastic painting and its companion blog here.

guess what? ...chicken butt.

chickens with some serious personality. more here.

kenichi hoshine

these charcoal and wax works by Kenichi Hoshine are so transfixing. i find them slightly disturbing, yet calming at the same time. see more here.

video vendredi - washed out

enjoy this tune and enjoy your weekend! xo

(sorry 'bout the rolling stone bullsh*t in the corner. it's the only one i could find that would embed. watch it at it was intended here. and check out Washed Out on myspace here.)