I drifted Off

“In a place far away from anyone or anywhere, I drifted off for a moment.” Haruki Murakami, The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle.

 

Have only  recently discovered Nicolas Jaar and been drifting away to his music and also his collaborations with Nikita Quasim and Soul Keita under his label Clown And Sunset. This is their compilation, Inés. I have also been losing myself in the wonderful world of Haruki Murakami. After seeing the beautifully shot Norwegian Wood, I wanted to immerse myself in some wonderful fiction and I have found the perfect book in The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle.

 

Sleep Slips or Pillowcases

Sleep. Your gateway to dreams. For such an important aspect in life, I sometimes think that there is very little attention paid to the things needed to help make sleep sweeter. The dream cloud offerings from Studio Psycho could help encourage certain themes in your dreams. These idream pillowcases are not to be confused with iDream speaker pillows which have inbuilt speakers and allow you to listen to music or to have “pillowtalks”.

I saw these Miranda July pillowcases in the ICA last year. Oh Miranda July! She never ceases to charm with her twisted humour. How I’d love for her cheekiness to be included in my bedtime.

Speaking of funtimes, I love these pillowcases for children spotted on Lapin And Me. Talk about making bedtime fun! I love that it’s embroidered on gingham too.

For the adults who don’t want to forget the psychedelic world of Alice in Wonderland, these pillow cases can help you get into the right mood for the film coming out soon!

All that’s light is beautiful

I’ve just been to see Tom Ford’s directorial debut, A Single Man. And what a beautiful film it was. The sets were lush, the cinematography carefully composed and every scene a delight to the eye.

What I loved most was the use of light and saturation in the film. It reminded me of Sofia Coppola’s films, especially The Virgin Suicides which was all sunbleached and hazy. I’d quite like to watch this again

Orla Kiely‘s SS10 campaign is out and photographed by Catherine Servel who is known for her use of light and tone. I especially like the golden hues and the play with light and shadow in her photos.

I am feeling like the time is right for getting lost in films and books. I went to watch She, A Chinese this week and was introduced to Xiaolu Guo. I have since picked up one of her books and found that seeing as winter is feeling so permanent, I am going to lose myself in her words and world.

With the help of these films, images and words I am going to ride out the cold and emerge when the days are longer and the sun’s warmth can be felt again.

Around the World in 3 Senses

 

 

One of my favourite stories as a child was Around The World in 80 Days. See, travel and faraway lands have always excited me.  Lately, this has been on my mind as I have just booked flights to go back to see family and am counting down days until my holiday. 

Sometimes time and budgets do not allow for traveling and you need to be creative. Travel can come in the form of books, film, music and food. Today I read The Times Online’s 50 Best Food Blogs and felt very inspired to do a spot of cooking and baking. 

I was also reminded of this restaurant/architectural wonder that I read about in New Zealand. The Yellow Treehouse is part of New Zealand’s Yellow Pages marketing campaign to prove that any project can be finished using the Yellow Pages. 

I love the architecture and design of this restaurant. I love that it resembles a lantern.

For now, I’m happy just listening to some Cumbia for a taste of the exotic.

Invitation to Love (Twin Peaks)

David Lynch has been on my mind lately. I decided to revisit Twin Peaks and found that the series was just as gripping the second time around. It pleased me so much to see Agent Cooper and his love for damn good coffee and cherry pie. The ICA is screening Eraserhead again and I was really happy to spot that the zigzag motif on the floor in Henry’s apartment block is the same one as in the red lodge in Twin Peaks.

The only time I’ve been brave enough to listen to the soundtrack (Julee Cruise’s haunting voice) on my own, I found Fire Walk With Me for £3 in Fopp in the same week.  So I got to relive a bit more of Twin Peaks. Although the film is not exactly the same in inpact as the TV series, I am glad to have finally seen it just to have seen the character Lil the Dancer. I love her bright red hair and the coded dance.

The Magician that is Tim Walker

My friend Claire came to stay the other day and we were talking about exhibitions that stood out recently.

Mine was the Tim Walker exhibition at The Design Museum. It was a concise collection but I remember the amount of pleasure walking through the rooms being surrounded by his fantastical images. 

There is something so quintessentially British about his images. They always remind me of Alice in Wonderland and just the magical, surreal and pure wonderful. 

It’s amazing that he is able to create so much magic and fantasy through his photos alone. By default I tend to look towards books and film (Celine and Julie Go Boating spring to mind) to disappear into a world where anything was possible but these photos evoke the same magic in me and beyond…as they inspire me to dress up.

Light and Darkness

I had some films processed today and amidst the snow and slush, I remember that crisp Autumn day when we walked down Kingsland Road and into Geffrye Museum. The light was so beautiful. 

Here lies the magic of having your films processed. They take you back through the seasons.

It’s cold and beautifully cinematic

I quite cherish January when excessive everything comes to a halt. When it gets properly cold and you almost certainly step out onto icey pavements, you just have to slow down and absorb. I love the silence that comes with the cold weather. The sort of quiet that creates a sense of space, even in a city like London.  It is during these times that I feel the urge to listen to quieter sounds, to stay in and to get cosy under the covers.

Tonight  I’ve put on Olafur Arnaulds loudly so that my room is filled with the sounds of his computer explorations in strings and the piano. I am in the mood for beautiful and haunting images. Yesterday, I spent most of the day listening to Paavoharju and ended the day by watching Twin Peaks again. At the moment I am overcome by stillness and slowness.

Something in the music in Laulu Laakson Kukista reminds me of a French film I watched a few years ago. I remember how it had such a residual effect on me that I thought about the film for days and weeks. I am also reminded of the Lee Jones mix on Resident Advisor and I particularly love that Golden the Pony Boy is in the mix. For the longest time I could not remember where I’d heard it from until I started seeing the scenes from the magical  Science of Sleep in my head.

These are sounds and images I’d like to wrap myself in when the days are short and it’s quietly freezing. These are the senses that need to be filled to keep me blissful.

Fashionable in the Badlands

I recently went to see the fantastic film Badlands at the BFI and walked out feeling so satisfied. I can’t remember the last film I watched in the cinema that was really good. Everything was great about Badlands. It starred a very young (Virgin Suicides-like ethereal beauty) Sissy Spacek and a dashing Martin Sheen. The first time the two meet has a great an impact as when Romeo and Juliet meet. Holly is twirling a baton outside her house and is sunbleached. It looks timeless.

Essentially a road movie, the cinematography in this is beautiful and the little dialogue in it funny.

I walked out feeling inspired by the 1970s prairie, ruffle shirts. Holly is on the run, but her wardrobe has inspired me for the autumn months. Longer-sleeved ruffled blouses. Victorian blouses. Paired with jeans, this is going to be my new look.

So obsessed that I’ve been scouring vintage sites looking for these blouses. I am also pining for this ruffled, tartan Naf Naf blouse my mum bought me when I was about 13. I’m hoping it’s sitting somewhere at the bottom of the wardrobe back home because it would be perfect.

The Taste of Tea or Cha No Aji

Sometimes it takes a hot shower and some camomile tea to help soothe a grey and rainy day. I love standing under a hot shower and letting it wash over me. It’s like standing in a storm and I always feel like i am disappearing into a film.

Stepping out of the shower to a cup of hot tea is nice. If you get a calming one like camomile, it is a luxury.

I love Chinese tea. I think that part of the charm of eating dim sum is having endless cups of tea. I have never been a big PG Tips kind of a tea drinker. I have always preferred coffee. Although after discovering how soothing it is to have a cup of slightly sweetened, milky tea for nursing a hangover, I now welcome the idea of having tea and would have maybe a cup every other day. 

Brewing tea is an exercise in patience. A good cup of tea is worth the wait. In Istanbul, the teashops were heavy with the fragrance of shisha and the scent of fruit teas. Served in beautiful tea glasses, I remember thinking that life should be about having a sit down and letting what’s around you pleasure your senses.