Monday 29 April 2013

HIGHLAND FLING

On Saturday I had the pleasure of attending the opening night of Scottish Ballet's latest production - Highland Fling.

Originally produced in 1994 by Olivier Award winning choreographer Matthew Bourne and presented exclusively by Scottish Ballet, Highland Fling is a wonderfully imaginative reworking of the classic romantic ballet La Sylphide with a wickedly wry Scotch twist.

"Highland Fling follows the antics of James – a young Scot with sex and love and rock and roll on his mind.  Recently married to his beloved Effie, his addiction to excess finds him in the fateful company of a beguiling gothic fairy.  As his love for the strange and beautiful sylph becomes an obsession, he embarks on a fateful journey that takes him from the mean streets and nightclubs of Glasgow into a magical world beyond reality and reason."





I have to say, this was MAYBE my favourite Scottish Ballet production I've seen thus far. Bold statement but it really was brilliant.

I took the bf and, as it was his first time, I was a little worried he might be left twiddling his thumbs towards the end. Though he's a fairly cultured sort of guy (ROFFLE), ballet isn't for everyone and in a packed, warm Theatre Royal it's easy to become fidgety and restless if you're not totally engrossed by the story/choreography.

Happily though, we both loved it. In particular, Scottish references like the Rangers and Celtic adornments in the council flat backdrop, and the wee auld granny getting right into the festivities in her mobility scooter tickled wur funny bones something awful. But there was a nice contrast in the second half as it became decidedly darker, taking a turn for the macabre with copious amounts of fake blood and a haunting pas de deux that almost brought a tear to the eye, helped in no small measure by the SEVERAL red wines consumed during the interval...

Overall it was the perfect introduction to ballet for a novice, and a refreshing break from the classics for myself. Funny, imaginative and engaging, one not to miss FOR SURE.

Plus, it was a great excuse to dress up on a Saturday and make a night of it. I got to wear my fab new bright orange stilettos...



...while bf stuck to the Scottish theme with his trusty Harris Tweed jacket. Lol at it getting a sneaky AIR OOT beforehand!

(This was by far the classiest thing we did all weekend, Sunday being spent mooching around Primark, and consuming Pop Tarts and Pez in front of the tellybox. Oooft!)



Friday 19 April 2013

JULIANNE MOORE COVERS T MAGAZINE

Julianne Moore covers New York Times' T Magazine this month, looking stunning as ever.

I've always thought Julianne Moore is an absolute stone fox - remember her in that Bulgari campaign? Ooft. Hard to believe she's 52. Crazy!

I could look at these all day...








Remember when you used to crimp your hair for a night out at the Garage and it'd end up looking like this by the end of the night?

Such a superbabe, and she plays the crazy mum in the new Carrie remake out soon - as if you needed another reason to go see it!




Wednesday 17 April 2013

THINGS I'D TELL MY TEENAGE SELF

Seen a few of these posts floating around and really enjoyed reading them, because I'm a SHAMELESS NOSEY PARKER. So here's what I'd tell my teenage self if I had the chance...




Lighten up. I know you've invested a bit in this whole emo/mosher thing and you like feeling you belong to a "scene", but get over yourself a bit. You're not as hard as you pretend to be, and you're pushing people away by looking so miserable. You have a pretty smile, you've just had those awful braces off, remember? Show your teeth. You have lots to be happy about. Also, look people in the eye when you talk to them.

Don't cut a fringe in. *See above.* Trust me, you'll only grow to hate it and have to get up half an hour earlier in the mornings to wash and straighten it. It becomes the bane of your life and ruins literally hundreds of otherwise-acceptable photos. In fact, stop fannying about with your hair in general. Your Dad is right to be appalled, you cannot carry off bright pink.

Don't be so easily led. You know what I'm talking about, right? Just cos everyone else is saying they're doing it, they're really not, and even if they are, YOU don't have to. If you don't like drinking, not really, not deep down, then stop. It makes you sloppy and silly and sad. You're too young yet, just wait a while.

Try harder in the subjects you like but feel like you're crap in, like art and history and biology. You're not crap, you're just not trying hard enough. Just because you know you can coast along in English doesn't mean you should take your foot off the gas elsewhere. Don't restrict yourself. And don't be such a smug git about English either. One day you'll fail an essay at Uni and THEN you won't feel so clever.

Take care of your friendships. You do a pretty good job of this already but it doesn't hurt to put a bit more effort it. Try and be social even if you don't feel like it. Let your friends into your head. Don't be a wallflower when it matters - if shady stuff is going down, call it out. Trust me, those that count stick around and those that don't fall by the wayside. Don't waste time on those that won't matter in a few years.

Be kinder to the people who care about you. Be careful, you will cause damage to relationships that are hard and maybe impossible to heal. Your friends and family love you and want you to be the best version of yourself you can be. No one is perfect and even those who should know better will make horrible, stupid mistakes, but we're all human, and you'd expect compassion too. Try and be forgiving. Listen to and take the advice of the grown ups who look after your interests. They're right.

Be kinder to yourself. Internally and externally. You are funny and intelligent and empathetic and generous and imaginative... you have so many amazing qualities to offer everyone around you. Why did you bury this? Dig it up, say it aloud, believe it. Hurting yourself hurts the people who love you - see previous point. Some things are out of your control - you're still a kid and making mistakes and getting lost is OK. It's not your fault. You will find yourself in horrible situations, and that's OK. Everything you do and feel is valid, and you have lots of people around you who care about you enough to pull you out of the holes you get into, if you'd only let them. Forgive yourself, you are worthy of love. You're NOT weak, you're strong, so dust yourself off and start acting like it.

Turn off the telly and read more. Kerrang doesn't count, I mean books.

You don't need to wear those horrendous mini-kilts, boob-choobs and black lipstick to be noticed. You're the skinniest you'll ever be so show it off if you want, but don't wear that trashy crap and then moan about the lecherous boys you attract. Be smarter than that, you're worth more. See "Be kinder to yourself."

Don't be so naive. I know you still believe the best in people though you pretend to be more cynical than that. But a bit of realism, please. The boys you're wasting time on are stupid and selfish and WILL hurt you. You're not going to fall in love yet, be patient.

Don't give up dancing. It's the only hobby you stuck with since primary school and you're better at it than you admit to yourself. And I KNOW you really like it, stop pretending you don't! Get over your shyness and push to the front. Just remember to wear a FLESH COLOURED bra and pants for Tubular Bells or else everyone gets to see your undies! You do NOT find it funny.

Everything will turn out good in the end. Remember what your Mum always says - this too will pass. You pass your highers, make it to uni and start a whole new chapter of your life, the best one so far. Everything is cool, YOU'RE cool. Actually, I think you're pretty awesome. Give yourself a big huge break.





So... Yeah. I've been sitting with this drafted for ages but I felt really weird about posting it since I couldn't really make it funny or flippant or whatever. I'd have LIKED to, but when I sat down and imagined what I'd actually tell my teenage self if I really had the chance, this is honestly what I'd say. It felt disingenuous to pretend otherwise.

I had a fairly bog-standard teenage experience up until about 14/15 and then things began to head off track for a while. Being a teenager is bloody difficult. I picked things back up and the rest is history really, but it's been therapeutic to imagine what advice I'd give myself looking back, knowing what I know now.

It's also made me realise that at 25 there are still so many things I have NO IDEA how to do, in practically every area of my life. How great would it be if the 35-year-old me could give 25-year-old me a call and dispense the kind of advice I could really do with just now, eh?

Meh. Nothing like a bit of naval-gazing for a humpday afternoon. What are the things you'd tell your teenage self?



Friday 12 April 2013

KIRSTEN DUNST IN RODARTE FOR BULLETT MAGAZINE

Kirsten Dust recently modelled Rodarte SS13 for Bullett Magazine, and it's mental.

Mentally AWESOME!









Kirsten does odd and weird and futuristic and edgy SO well and is the perfect fit for Rodarte. Some folk have said this collection is needlessly mismatched and tries too hard... I don't know if I agree. I do think Rodarte takes itself quite seriously, but it pulls it off and works exceptionally well in highly-styled editorials like this. Not always massively commercial and wearable, but there's a futurisic romanticism about the brand that instinctively appeals. Plus, Kirsten's an ultimate babe of life.

Doesn't beat my fave collection though - SS10. Amazing.

Friday 5 April 2013

CAN'T REPEAT THE PAST? OF COURSE YOU CAN!

OH MY GOD. Just about wet myself when I saw this new trailer for The Great Gatsby, featuring a new choon from Beyonce and Andre 3000 covering Amy Winehouse's Back to Black.

I mean, can you even take in how amazing that is? Wait till you see/hear it...


I mean...  I just... I can't...

*dies*

Gatsby is a BIG deal. It's a big deal anyway, but it's a big deal to me cos it's MAYBE my favourite book... MAYBE, definitely ONE OF my favourites. Re-reading it now reminds me of all the best bits of University - of being snuggled up in one of the grotty old armchairs in Starbucks on Byres Rd, totally lost in the world of West Egg, pining for Gatsby's redemption and Daisy's green light, welling up and the simplicity and beauty of the language, of chatting to my pals without shame about the BIG FEELS it conjures up, like regret, entrapment, fate, loss, ... Of losing countless hours in that bloody Starbucks when I should have been at lectures, just because I couldn't tear myself away.

In short, I'm into it.

I'm also into this NEW TRAILER! It gives more of the story away though I think, compared to the last two, which is a shame but whatever. How good does that Beyonce/Andre 3000 Back to Black cover sound? I know, right?! Insane! IN FACT, the whole soundtrack looks pretty banging...

  • 100$ Bill – JAY Z 
  • Back To Black – Beyoncé x André 3000 
  • Bang Bang - will.i.am 
  • A Little Party Never Killed Nobody (All We Got) – Fergie + Q Tip + GoonRock 
  • Young And Beautiful – Lana Del Rey 
  • Love Is The Drug - Bryan Ferry with The Bryan Ferry Orchestra 
  • Over The Love - Florence + The Machine 
  • Where The Wind Blows – Coco O. of Quadron 
  • Crazy in Love – Emeli Sandé and The Bryan Ferry Orchestra 
  • Together – The xx 
  • Hearts A Mess - Gotye 
  • Love Is Blindness – Jack White 
  • Into the Past – Nero 
  • Kill and Run - Sia

Oh MAAAAN. Yes to Sia, Jack Black, Flo, XX, Jigga and LDR.

Also recently released are the new posters which are ALSO TOTALLY EPIC. Could this post BE more exciting, Gatsby fans? Enjoy.









*dead*



Wednesday 3 April 2013

SAINT LAURENT MUSIC PROJECT

HOT DAMN. Marilyn Manson for YSL? YES.

These images, shot by Hedi Slimane, show rock Gods Courtney Love, Marilyn Manson, Kim Gordon and Ariel Pink dressed in iconic YSL threadz for what's being dubbed the AW13 Music Project  - "A portrait series drawing on the relationship between rock icons and the house since its earliest days, the killer move being the artists style themselves in its seasonal and permanent collections to create an image of their own expression."


Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes x1000




It's a little unclear to me (and to Elle apparently) whether or not these are the officical images of the AW13 campaign or a stand-alone project. My instinct says the latter (since the models have styled themselves in a variety of pieces including Kim in an iconic le smoking and since Slimane himself calls it a "portrait series")  but regardless, let's just revel in the amazingness of that Marilyn Manson shot.


"I'm not an artist, I'm a fucking work of art." MM



Tuesday 2 April 2013

LIFE LATELY: EASTER

Oh hey! So I've been up to a whole host of stuff lately including stuffing my face, shopping, boozing... The usual.

Over Easter weekend, while most folk were gorging on Easter Eggs, I took a trip into town to visit Urban Outfitters. I've sorely neglected Urban recently - the lure of Silverburn proves too great most weekends for an UBER LAZYBONES like me - but there's only so much Topshop/H&M a girl can take, so I wandered in for a swatch. Got myself a few things but to be honest I was SUPER restrained as there's hunners of good stuff in just now, including a pretty good sale. 

Couldn't decide between this dress and the blue version at half price but ultimately went for this as I figured the colours were nicer and I'd probably get more wear out of it in Spring WHEN IT EVER BLOODY ARRIVES. Harrumph.

Just your basic silky black t-shirt but I find myself living in t-shirts most weekends and this silky, floaty version feels a wee bit smarter than my usual tea-stained efforts. It's nice with dark jeggings and heeled boots. Works for a more casual look at work too. Blummin £40 though!

Bargainous faux-leather wee studded bag in the sale. I'm normally a carry-everything-around-but-the-kitchen-sink type gal, but sometimes a wee bag is called for. Plus I have a weird rash type thing in the crook of my arm from constantly carrying heavy bags around - looks like little burst blood vessels. GROSS, but true. Must start utilising my shoulders yo.

I had my eye on this 90s style tie dye Evil Twin dress ages ago but at £90 I just couldn't really justify it. Spotted it in store at £50 and was SOLD. Perfect for summer WHEN IT EVER BLOODY ARRIVES. They only had a small left and it's a leeeeeetle tight on the bust, but I mean, I can just like hunch or something. Couldn't NOT get it.


Last Wednesday I was very kindly invited to the launch night of Munro's on Great Western Rd - or the old Captain's Rest as I kept calling it. It was a lovely wee night of craft beer (which I actually drank and loved despite always claiming to hate beer. My favourite was the Caledonian Deuchars or something, mmm!), nibbles and lolz.


I took the bf (because YES there is a bf this time - told you, actual life of a chick-lit novel) and we both thouroughly enjoyed. Think bf was still mourning the loss of Captain's Rest as the new pub looks quite different - sort of shabby chic with comfy booths and quirky light-fittings etc. but I really enjoyed the new feel.

Hunners of craft beers so if you're into that then Munro's is your place. If you like tasty bar nibbles,
pizza and wine you won't be disappointed either. Win.

Over the weekend I was cat-sitting Southside again so on Easter Monday we ambled along to the Glad cafe in Shawlands for a nosy at THEIR nibbles. 

Serious and silly. Also, look at my Jeremy Beadle hand!


Cool wee place with a nice vibe. The food didn't WOW me to be honest (I had the soup and sandwich deal) but I really liked the decor and arty feel. Apparently the Glad Cafe is a social enterprise with the legal structure of Community Interest Company. As a social enterprise they have a social purpose to eventually plough profits, (once loans have been repaid), into affordable music lessons for local people. Right on, man.

They have some interesting art up around the place and their wee Glad Rag magazine publishes poems and short stories from local writers. There's also a music venue area through the back. Southside is the new Westend folks, you heard it here first. Check it out if you're in Shawlands. 

Assorted miscellaneous pics from my weekend include...
STEAK...

A random back garden we passed while running about like hyper eejits round Linn Park yesterday afternoon. The picture doesn't show it all that well, but someone had strung silvery streamers on the fence so they shone all pretty and glittery in the sunshine. GOD, LISTEN to me! But from far away through the trees it did look quite magical... Just take my word for it. #photogfail



And general kitten cuteness.


Hope y'all had a nice Easter. Now where the HELL is Spring?



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