THE O'SULLIVAN SISTERS

it has now become tradition for riona and i to snap a shot for christmas,
here is one of the more serene stills!

PECULIAR

some work in progress to bridge the posting gap.
i had some fun on the stairwell with spray paint and stencils, have not used it since college - strong stuff that gets everywhere! well it did with this incompetent user. hehe!

the film is quite colourful so they will eventually be tinted accordingly..

PIE OF THE DAY

i was an oxford day tripper today!
visiting my lovely old housemate serena and her husband marco, who have recently been lured back to this island kingdom.
picture of the day for me was the pie of the day
it was a serious pie!
i actually only took one other picture and it did not do oxford justice, perhaps some days are meant to be remembered not recorded...

stewie and gene

the balboa was impressive dear anne,
but i watched family guy last night, and this has touched my heart!

ODE to OBAMA

democracy is delightful, Nov 4th made History!
and i made these posters for that film.

BOO! a happy halloween...

ODE

My second go at film titles!
I have my eye on an 'aftereffects and title animation' course that starts in January. Alas my attempt as self learning the moving image trade just aint gonna cut the mustard!

ON MY WALLS

anne has tagged me for 'on my walls'
i think i have been and bad blogger and she is giving me an easy way back in!

so... the first pic...
shows a bit of my pin board which includes lots of wires, postcards, a rob ryan invite and one of my favorite photos of my grandmother giving me a piggy back many moons ago.

the second...
has a conviniently cropped photograph that shows my nice and huge, danish plate (that has a rather large chunk missing ) saved from the bin at alfies antiques. also my 'piquot' tea and coffee pot collection. I got these from a car boot super cheap, but they have led me to spot the most gorgeous 'kettle' that brand new sells for £180.00 but again at alfies a vintage one sells for about £100, but i think i will keep my eyes peeled at the fairs for the 'next to nothing' priced ones.

i will be updating on a project i am working on imminently!

Bagnoles De L'Orne

2 dogs and 2 cats at this house of Scots
as you can see from the storm clouds and sunshine it was pretty much London weather, ie. schizo.













sweet bonny using emotional blackmail to aquire some extra eats (no begging allowed however!)

























tourist information sent us an hour's walk in the wrong direction when we asked for the horse racing.
they sent us to a riding school with a very nice parrot.













we did get to the races however - everyone attends..
























































Bagnoles De L'Orne is basically a Disneyland for retired folk, but we did venture out at night to amusements other than eating and eating some more. Friday was a national holiday and along with a serious fireworks display was great live music from these boys.














paris
rendez-vous with paul
we pass some nice curtains, the plaques on the side say estate agents, but i reckon that ain't quite right!

visit to his small but perfectly formed appartment.
he had already put the bowie card up i gave him for his birthday :)

THE PRIME MINISTER'S HARICUT

i am really loving the whole GREAT britain malarky at the moment (aestheically speaking).
which is probably why i got a little carried away with a little test set up for some upcoming film titles - 'The Prime Minister's Haircut' (working title).
the lovely people at 'the room' - matt and gemma saw the titles i did for 'Forgive me my Sins' at the cannes film festival and got in touch - how nice is that!

but when i was cutting these little fellas out i realised that the queen does not generally share her guards with the PM :(
but the prime minister's policemen do wear the very best head wear available :)
i shall be animating the cut-outs too this time. the film is a comedy which i am making into an excuse to watch british comedies from the 50's to the 80's.

establishment V anarchy - love it!

last curtsey and some jive

a friend of a friend works at kensington palace and organised 'rock around the palace'

the palace is also celebrating 50 years since the last debutante was presented to the queen.
(the exhibition is definitely worth a look see) i volunteered to be a helpful debutante for the day

the above pictures are the only ones i took on the day
and they do not represent it at all, the event was outside on the lawn in front of the palace
after doing my time clicking the numbers onto the dance floor for ballroom classes, i got my chance to take to the dance floor for some afternoon jiving!

for this more rockin' part of the day i took off the little hat* i made,
and put on my plimsols - the debutante look can make you want to do something bad! i joined the dance class instead.

well all i can say is that i want to jive again, too much fun

*pictured below: my little tear drop hat, on top of the skirt i made. i couldn't help add the evil eye, i also put my lucky 4 aces brooch at the other end. the hats feathers are sadly bedraggled after i stuffed it into my bag :(
oh and apologies for contrived placement of her majesty in the background! (my teabag tin)

you lookin' at me?

GIANTS

rudolf steiner

elias lönnrot

jean sibelius



this evening i went to a lecture at 'rudolf steiner house'
'The Human Being and the Elemental World. Finland and the Kalevala'
by Virginia Gilmer (who happens to be my sisters childhood lyre teacher!)

it's been too long since i last went to 'rudolf steiner house'.
its an unusual and beautiful building. so i plan on becoming more esoterically inclined and attending more lectures and performances.

i went to the 'kings langley steiner school' which hopefully explains my inclinations!

the lecture renewed my interest in the kalevala - finlands national epic poem.
elias lönnrot travelled all around finland collecting folk tales that had been passed down generations aurally and formed it into the kalevala.
i won't go into it - just take my word for it - its epic and trippy!

his work inspired my final studio project at college..
i went to finland visiting as much of my mothers family as possible and collected family stories and propaganda.
which i re-wrote and recorded as spoken word onto a 12''white vinyl record.

the lecture also focused on sibelius.
who was inspired by the kalevala for one of his symphonies.
virginia who was giving the lecture, spent many moments emphasizing how much his head was like a piece of finnish granite!!
very true virginia!

so, i realize i have not really gone into the whole steiner thing, but i plan on covering it more, a little now and in the future!
rudolf covered almost every aspect of life in such amazing detail, i don't agree with it all but my positive experience of the education system always makes me fascinated with his take on the big and small things. for example he sees the trochaic rhythm (short long short long ...) of the verses as the best route into the spirit world {with which he said the ancient finns were very connected with}. Although this is an aural experience - my take is to make this visual within some form of illustration.
but anyho blah blah blah! i am inspired laterally and literally!

steiner and finland will be back
(would also have liked to have found a decent size image of sibelius with a moustache as that's how i really think of him!)

update!!
miss maud kindly sent numerous links with appropriate images. so here you see a youthful sibelius with the tash!

Hey Cowboy! Where'd you get that crazy walk?

Thanks to a happy misinterpretation of some of the lovely Annes work.
I got to thinking about Lee Hazlewood, which got me to thinking about times gone by. So back in the good ol' days when the adventures I had with the Larsson sisters were a little more on the peculiar side..
Well, here is a bit of writing I did for our screen-printed magazine way back in 2002.
Its actually a little cringe worthy for me to read - I never have declared myself as a writer, but I do like for things to be recorded.


LAREDO KENT UK
-I met the Larsson sisters at Denmark Hill station. The day was cold and windy but the sun was shining, a good day for a trip out West. On arriving at Longfield town our first point of call was the towns off-licence. Maud purchased a small bottle of ‘Grants’ whiskey to help shake off the cold.
-I am able to identify J.T the founder of Laredo, by his baseball cap that has J.T LAREDO across the front. He tells us to go on up to the place.
-Past the horses, we jump over the barbed wire fence and head across the field. We meet our first fully kitted Westerner - Horse. He is carrying building supplies to the town, and in this working mode he is a good introduction to Laredo.
-Laredo has one main street, with the town built on either side, this classic layout really helps to envelope you in the New World. The howling wind was causing the wood built town to creek. It was almost deserted, save a few members working on construction. It was a Saturday and Members day is Sunday.
-We made our base in the hotel bar. Being a mannequin the bartender did not have much to say. I think Anne got along nicely with him however – being the strong silent type.
-Wandering around the town, peeking through windows into shadow cast rooms, glimpsing a stage coach through the livery doors and discovering abandoned cowboy boots, a hangman’s rope and a hidden encampment.
-Hardworking on a new building: the print-house, Fay and Terry took time out to tell us how Laredo can come to life..
-..When darkness falls, every window lights up with flickering oil lamps. You can knock on any door and most likely there will be coffee on the stove and some good company to while away some time with. In the saloons the bars are three people deep and the nights entertainments become livelier.
-The previous week Laredo has been host to fellas from as far out of town as Belgium and Germany.
-We retreated to the grocery store form the cold. The clouds were now blotting out the blue. Fay kindly put the kettle on to boil for tea.
-Everything is done with as much authenticity as possible in this town. Knowledge is continually sought and passed on. Fay was currently learning how soap was made in the 1880s. One of her pleasures of spending time in town is being treated like a lady.
-J.T’s daughter Joleene and her son Morgan arrives. Joleene is wearing a beautiful blue western period dress. Morgan who, no higher than the waist looked perfectly at home, there’s no novelty in Laredo for him. ‘you’re not in western wear’ he notices. We are the ones out of place here. Joleene takes us around the town, inside everything from the marshals’ office to the preachers abode.
-Then it snowed. The town looked beautiful. The snow bleached out the surrounding world. We were standing in a 1880s frontier town.
-Back in the grocery store Les joins us. He was in full kit and looked mighty fine. Water was on the boil again for tea. Fay, Terry, Joleene, Les and Morgan were getting down to the nittty gritty; town gossip and the essentials of fetching fire-wood and sleeping arrangements for the cold night ahead.
-‘Whose apple is that?’ Morgan asks shyly, then munches happily when we tell him that it is his if he wants it.
-Farewells said, we make our way back across the field over the barbed wire fence and past the horses in the direction of reality.


We also went day tripping to another Western Town called 'Deadwood'. Will try and get around to digitising that day too. I am due a little cowboy inspiration, or maybe pirate, hmmm both! watch this space.

now, this is going to hurt!

the print is about the size of one of those stickers you get from the dentist when you (we) were little.
i printed this one straight into my diary so not sure if it qualifies as propaganda
but i did make it into a badge , and printed on toilet paper and and handwash!! those prints didn't come out so well!