Quiver, quiver my heart!

The most delicious find of the week is Bompas & Parr and their beautiful creations!

I remember a time when every party you went to featured jelly or agar agar (mmm, I miss the taste of coconut and pandan flavoured agar agar).  Tinned fruit cocktail was very popular in early 80s Malaysia. And they were normally set in jelly so it looked like you had bits of cherry floating in this quivering delight. No kitchen was complete without the colourful plastic jelly moulds.  I like the look of these vintage jelly mould pendant lights and think it’s a really lovely way of recycling objects.

I am very excited about discovering Bompas & Parr. Just look at these magical creations! You can order customised jelly moulds to create just about any shape in any colour.

All this crazy jelly business made me wonder what else was out there? Who else was into crazy creations? What other fun is there for jelly-lovers?  I stumbled upon this. I wished I had been about to see this wonderful installation by Nigel Peterson and Deborah Walsh in Suter Gallery in New Zealand.

And if you ever wondered what is the sound of jelly wobbling have a listen to the result of the experiment held by UCL.

Let’s Get This Party Started

Work on Friday ended on a perfect (synth) note because we found Tommy Toemie.

The joy of working just off Clapham High Street lies in walking past the junk shop run by the sun-worshipping alcoholics.  This involves their regular as clockwork greetings of “Awright dahlin” and my feeling envy of the carefree lives the junk shop proprietor and his mates have, which normally involves sitting around on the pavement with cans of beer listening to music.

On Friday I saw that amongst the usual pile of marathon vests and second hand shoes was a white robot standing at about the size of a child. It was love at first sight. Not knowing who or what he did, I eyed up the 80s stickers on the little fella and saw that he was a Scooter 2000 (because the year 2000 is so futuristic) and it was enough for me to want him. And that is how I ended up with Tommy Toemie in my possession.

On the web I see that he is an old robot and is radio controlled. Mine came with some batteries that did not work and no radio control. But really, I don’t expect him to do much except to sit there and smile. I’d play him some Kraftwerk and let’s get this party started.

Airpistol on a loop

My recent vinyl purchases have been Elaste’s Space Disco compilation and Osbourne’s single, Airpistol.  It was a miserable day, the sky was pouring down and the only way being in town was bearable was by being indoors and choosing a few records and putting on the headphones. Just by closing your eyes, you can be anywhere the music takes you.

I loved Elaste’s Slow Motion Disco and have found it difficult to remove this from my ipod. This new Space Disco version is catchy and filled with some lovely 80s gems. I particularly love Stroer’s “Don’t Stay Till Breakfast”.

There is something sacred about putting a record on. As much as I love the convenience of mp3s and cds, I always think that putting on a record makes you listen to a track properly. Now, this is why I am glad I have  Airpistol on vinyl.

This beautiful and melodic track is ever so slightly minimal with dashes of disco-funk. All the ingredients of music to my ears. And one that I’ve been listening to on a loop, even though it means I have to keep walking back to put the needle back on the groove.