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I finally got to see Fantastic Mr Fox the other night and it was worth the wait. I like Wes Anderson's films a lot but I often find the storylines to be a little weak. The quirkiness of the production design and the idiosyncrasies of the characters for me are his forte and so I felt that his interpretation of Dahl's story worked particularly well as there was already a good story there for him to work with. I loved that it had been animated using stop-motion techniques rather than CGI and that the animation wasn't slick and perfect but a little bit off beat. My favourite character was the Foxes' son, Ash, with his cantankerous adolescent attitude. And of course I loved all the typical Anderson details like Mrs Fox's pockets in her dress for paint brushes and scissors and spoons, that she was a landscape painter who paints thunderstorms and hurricanes, that the Foxes drank coffee and from a Bialetti espresso maker, their maniacal dancing style and the juice boxes they find in the supermarket.
(Images from indiemoviesonline.com and filmofilia.com)
Paris themed posts will come soon ( I keep forgetting to charge my camera so I can download the photos and I may need to draft them a few times...) but in the meantime I'm trying to decide on a theme/aesthetic for my Christmas cards for this year. Last year's had a gothic theme and featured a raven (or crow?) and lots of frosty coloured glitter! I was really pleased with them as they met with my appreciation for the slightly darker things in life and general dislike of the typical snowman/father christmas/redgreenwhite aesthetic so I'm finding it hard to come up with something better this year... Generally I try to go for a wintery seasonal theme rather than a festive Christmas one. So far I've come up with a few ideas: a green/gold/leopard print combination (one of my favourite colour combinations generally), a yellow/orange/gold/woodprint 70s aesthetic featuring woodland animals eg. squirrels, owls, deer or something collage based depending on what's in my collaging bag. I'm thinking the orange and yellow idea might be the best? Do you spend a long time agonising over an aesthetic for your Christmas cards/wrapping/decorations?
P.S. The herbs are growing - photos to come soon!
(One of my favourite things - my reconditioned 1930s bakelite phone which has the best ringtone)
Another thing that makes me happy is when I'm reading a book that I'm enjoying so much I look forward to opportunities to read and it usually results in me reading it within a week and then feeling sad that it's over too quickly. I'm reading such a book at the moment: Alain De Botton's Status Anxiety. I had put it in the bathroom with the intention of reading it idly whilst in the bath. I started to read it the other night, whilst in the bath, and I lay and read the first 50 pages in one sitting until the water had almost gone cold. This took my completely by surprise and I love it when a book does that to you. I've watched some of De Botton's programmes on TV before and really enjoyed them but this is the first time I've read one of his books. I'm really liking his writing style and it's accessibility and that you feel like you're receiving a history lesson at the same time - it also feels like a very relevant book for the world as it is today.
In her first book, The Gentle Art of Domesticity, Jane Brocket writes about receiving happiness from your own set of simple pleasures, unfortunately I don't own a copy but as far as I remember I think her's included good chocolate, some wine and a nice new ball of wool. I think mine would have to include a cup of good earl grey tea, some cake and a rainy afternoon inside with something good on the radio (preferably Dylan's Theme Time).
Although I only have a small balcony to grow things on I do feel sad when this time of year comes around and it's difficult to grow edible things. I like to think if I had a garden I'd grow things all year round by growing veg that suit different seasons. I have some herbs out on the balcony (rosemary, oregano and mint) that I'm hoping will survive the Winter but to keep my growing habits going I'm trying some herbs and lettuce on the kitchen window sill. The lettuce is a special winter blend that is doing quite well, the herbs (basil and coriander) less so in fact all I have at the moment is one tiny coriander shoot... but nevertheless it's exciting watching their progress!
(This year's pumpkins which were finally carved a week late and provided us with a week's worth of pumpkin pie - enough for breakfast every day!)
I've been away from my blog for a while, not intentionally, but now I'm back! I've got lots of ideas for entries ready to be posted so hopefully there will be a lot more action around here... Including some entries on my recent trip to Paris! But firstly I've been doing lots of crafting recently which I'm finding incredibly restorative after the stress of finishing my MA, being unemployed and now being only very partly employed. Unfortunately I can't reveal any of my creations until after Christmas otherwise some readers of this blog won't be getting surprises on Christmas morning. Although I'm not a huge fan of Christmas itself I do like spending the couple of months leading up to it making presents and cards and decorations. There's something that's just 'right' about this time of year and crafting don't you think?
