true. blood.

So another series of True Blood ends on Channel 4 and I fret will they show the next? Or will it go to Sky or some other subscription based channel... I hear that BBC4 have lost the rights to Mad Men and that will be moving to Sky next season, and I'm very upset about this!

At the end of season 1 I wasn't sure about the ending of the final episode, that introduced the new directions that season 2 would follow, but I was proved wrong as season 2 was great. The lives of everyone in Bon Temps became even more tangled together and as the plot slowly developed and the pace increased the mysticism of the Deep South became darker and stranger until its climax in the season 2 finale which was quite wonderfully bizarre. One of the main themes of True Blood that I've really enjoyed is its development from a programme about vampires to one that includes a wider group of other super-natural beings: psychics, shapeshifters, even a maenad. And I look forward to see how it's going to develop in season 3, particuarly the role of this character:

Who I'm not convinced by yet, but I do really like the opulent styling of her and her environment...

bass, baker and bogart

My favourite parts of Chico and Rita

The car chase scene that was like an Edward Hopper painting on crack

The dream sequence featuring Josephine Baker and Humphrey Bogart, reminiscent of 1950s illustrations and the movie title sequences of Saul Bass.

The scenes where the talking stopped, the action slowed down and the viewer could just sit and revel in the amazing music...

dancing skellingtons and piano playing cats

Ignoring all the controversy surrounding this lady, the styling and production of this was great. I love it when a show as mainstream as the X Factor does something slightly off the wall. Although it doesn't top Lady Gaga dressed as a cat playing the piano whilst on the toilet from last year... Genius.

desert island discs

I'm really enjoying the BBC4 season on the 'Great American Songbook' at the moment. Leslie Caron's costumes, Gershwin's sondtrack and the ridiculous dance scene through the works of famous painters at the end of An American in Paris have so far been a highlight. Last night there were two great documentaries on, one on Ella Fitzgerald and the other Nina Simone - two of my favourite singers. If I was stuck on a desert island their records would be at the top of my list to take. Ella and Louis is possibly my favourite album ever. Every song is perfect, the choice of songs is seamless and the cover is classic. I bought it on vinyl from a little second-hand record shop about eleven years ago I think? And have since had to buy it on CD for fear of wearing it out...

anger's puce moment

Looking through some notes I'd made in an old notebook the other day I found a reference to Kenneth Anger's Puce Moment. Anger is someone who I've found interesting for a while now, he links lots of figures and elements of the counter-culture that was present in 1960s California and the controversy and issues surrounding many of his films and his life in general I never tire of reading about. Also I love that he's one of those people who brings up loads of other weird interesting stuff and leads you in to strange little time absorbing pockets of the internet when you do start researching about them.
Anyway back to Puce Moment it's a short six minute film made in 1949 of a glamorous actress languishing around in her mansion - initially supposed to be part of a longer film that was never made. It was originally scored to one of Verdi's overtures but Anger changed the soundtrack during the 1960s to music by Jonathan Halper - to the kind of folk-rock that was coming out of California during that time. I find that there's something quite tragic about old Hollywood glamour in a strange kind of romantic way, another thing I find endlessly fascinating, which I think Anger's film almost but not quite portrays. For me I think it's because I find the soundtrack really distracting and I would like to find a version with the original soundtrack to see the difference it makes. But still each time I see this I find it hard to believe it was made as long a go as 1949 as Anger's techniques make it seem much more modern.
Incidentally I saw Anger's apartment block a few years ago on holiday in California when I went on this tour (which I highly recommend!). Anger's presenting some of his films at Tate Modern tonight which unfortunately I can't go to but I will be making a trip to see his exhibition at Sprueth Magers which opened today sometime. I'm off now to sit in the bath and read some of his Hollywood Babylon instead....

box of treasures

This is the new sewing box I go for Christmas, which I love. It was a present from my Mum and Dad, along with the stocking darning thread and hooks and eyes, that they found at a flea market and it's perfect for fitting all my main sewing things in and with room to spare! Previously things were spread out between various boxes and tins but now the things I mostly use all fit in to one lovely box. I spent late yesterday afternoon and evening working my way through a big pile of mending, whilst watching Dolly Parton on BBC2, 3 cardigans with moth holes in, a dressing gown with a split seam, a pyjama top with a button missing, a cardigan whose button holes keep stretching out of shape and one of R's cardigans in which he'd managed to make a huge hole in the armpit. Although my left-hand seemed to have frozen into a strange claw shape by the end, it was hugely satisfying all I have to do now is mend my patchwork quilt...

(my new sewing box, lots of exciting things inside (including my darning toadstool!), threads for mending stockings, little hooks and eyes)

birthday season

In our house January is birthday season. Although in many ways it's not the best time to have a birthday (mine falls a few days after new year) I do like starting a new year with a new age and spending my birthday money in the January sales. So here's a summary of our birthdays through their cakey goodness...

(R's tropical birthday cake, meringue piles on birthday plates, birthday tea, my apple and wensleydale birthday cake)

2010

It's been a while, I know. I've noticed a lot of other people talking about enjoying the quiet time after new year but so far for me 2010 has been the opposite, hence the lack of posts. My recent lack of time is mostly work related so I can't complain but unfortunately it does mean some less frequent posting for a while.
So Happy New Year! And I'll be back soon....