yesterday's news

Oh, hai guys!!!

Yes, I'm still alive, and so is this blog, in spite of the lying very still and looking like we weren't breathing for the last week. We're both very sorry; things have been ten kinds of CRAZY. Birthdays, family members in hospital, travel (okay, inter-island, barely two hours travel, but still - travel), sleep-deprivation, and a new project I can't share with you yet but is taking a lot of time and energy. CRAZY.

There have been so many things that have happened that I've wanted to post here but just haven't been able to make it, so no more time making oblique excuses. Let's catch up!

1. Return of BIG DAY OUT!!! Damn straight, I'm excited! I was one of those people who blamed fickle hipster youths (yeah, I'm thirty now; I say "youths") and Laneway for BDO's demise, and this past summer, Auckland was the poorer for it. Now not only is it back, Arcade Fire are headlining(!!!) AND it's (kind-of) walking distance from my parents' house. LIFE IS GOOD! The last BDO we went to was one of the best days I can remember in my entire life - IT WAS THAT GOOD. Blueberry daiquiris in the train. Painful carnival rides. Wolfmother killing Baba O'Reilly. Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros playing Home, in the rain while the small crowd all danced together like we were leftovers from Monterey (nb this was before Home blew up and the hipster youths got hold of it). Sia, resplendent in a portable picture frame, talking about the "brown note". And Iggy Pop. Vive la Big Day Out!

2. I didn't make it to the California exhibition, or any of my favourite op shops while I was in Auckland - things were THAT CRAZY. But don't cry for me.

3. There's a new Closet Visit! I'm not sure how new because it had been a while since I checked in, but anyway - Jeana's back! This time she visits Sophie Buhai, who has a very tidy house and wears pants beautifully. I really love a woman who wears pants beautifully.

4. The film festival hits Dunedin in a few days. If you feel like I've been talking about the festival forever, imagine how I feel - I didn't get to even one while we were in Auckland! Our programme is like the Auckland programme's half-eaten twin, but if we look at it in a glass half full kind of way, it includes two of our must-sees... Nah, I didn't convince myself either. We have worse weather! We need more movies!

5. I have completely forgotten any other news I might have had (the last point wasn't even news), so here's a song. Jimmy's been working on music for a new restaurant opening in Auckland soon, so there's been a lot of Southern blues, early rock, and Orleans jazz playing in the house. It's cacophonic, a bit messy, pretty dark at times, and just the best reflection of life I can think of. This is song you might recognise from Treme (which has the best music): the Rebirth Brass Band's Feel Like Funkin' It Up.

film inspiration: Duckie Dale

Perhaps because we didn't always have a tv and vcr, and my sisters and I were readers from, well, the time we could read, there are a lot of 80s classics I didn't see (Adventures In Babysitting a notable exception; I wanted to be Chris so badly!). I've caught up on some, and totally dug them: Dirty Dancing, Die Hard, Stand By Me. I've caught up on some and had to turn them off because, without the lens of sentimentality, they were awful: The Goonies (don't hate me!), The Big Blue. And there are some I still haven't seen: Footloose, Top Gun, Gremlins (although my sister had the movie book, and it scared the shit out of me).

So until a couple of weeks ago, I hadn't seen Pretty In Pink, and to tell the truth, was a little embarrassed about it. I actually gave it to a close friend for her birthday one year, even though I totally knew it implied I'd seen it and was saying - look, we're so old, but remember when we weren't? Pathetic! But I digress. Finally I watched it, and I was... underwhelmed. Maybe I'm too old for it now, but I just didn't connect with anybody (except maybe the Dad, heaven help me), and I felt as if some scenes went on and on, and then sometimes as if a scene had been missed. However, what I did love was Duckie's wardrobe.And his lip-synced performance of Try A Little Tenderness - the best! There are boys around who dress similarly but there's just something kind of hollow about it; like they're New Wave simulacra? I don't know; there's just something genuine about the way Duckie dresses. His shoes are beaten up and dirty because he doesn't have much money, and he rides a bike in them... and he's Duckie. By the way, did anyone else think Andie ruined two good dresses? Okay, sorry, sorry. Happy Friday! My first Friday in months at my pub in Auckland... Hurray!

"It's the end of the month, they're out of toilet seat covers!"

"It's called a sense of humour; you should get one, they're nice."

"I'm not particularly concerned with whether or not you like me, because I live to like you..."

"...please airmail me some scotch tape"

Today I'm going to Wellington to meet my sisters for a combined birthday weekend; my parents' idiosyncratic reproductivity means that the three of us have our birthdays in July and are exactly five years apart (ten between me and my big sister). I have been looking forward to to trip since its inception, and when unable to sleep have planned and revised what I'll wear. It's very sad, but if you ever find yourself being at home in warm jumpers all the time, you'll understand. There'll be a lot of eating, and drinking, and gallery visits, and being mean to each other and about people we know. I can't wait.

Although what I'm taking bears only the slightest resemblance to her wardrobe, something has made me think about Audrey Hepburn in Sabrina. Maybe it's all the black I'm taking. Maybe it's my subconscious telling me I should go to a hairdresser because the haircut I gave myself a month ago is growing out HORRIBLY. I don't know. Maybe it's just because there's a packing scene in the movie.

All images from here. Have a good weekend!

film inspiration: Adrian Pennino

I think only a heart of stone could not be moved by the first Rocky film. Admittedly, it spawned five sequels, so some people might have suffered from franchise fatigue (I haven't seen any of them yet so I can't weigh in) and the feelings of love the first film conjured might have faded. But try to remember! Remember the slights! Remember the turtle food jokes! Remember the training montage!!! And don't even get me started on the story of the film's conception; Stallone being forced to sell Butkus on account of being broke (and then buying him back when the film was sold but having to give the guy a small part in the movie as part of the deal), and the scenes he had to rewrite to fit props that couldn't be replaced on account of being broke. What's not to love?!!

Obviously, I love the film. I love the story. I love Rocky. And I love Adrian. To me, Rocky and Adrian are one of film's greatest love stories. They fill each others gaps, you guys. What's more romantic and beautiful than that?

If you haven't seen it, quit reading this immediately - you have more important business to attend to. If you have, enjoy the break from my raptures, and check out Adrian's most excellent wardrobe.

"I just want to say hi to my girlfriend, okay? Yo, Adrian! It's me, Rocky"

more not vintage and not clothes... and a song for wednesday

I've come to realise there's a fine line between being into movies and music in a cool way, and being a film/music-geek. I'd like to say I crossed those lines, but I don't think I was ever on the cool side of either; I've always been obsessive about music (did anyone else even know that iTunes had a tab for each song where you could fill in information about the track? I did, and I used to spend hours filling in lyrics. And we didn't have the internet then, so it was all from memory, or pausing the song every five seconds. Mm hmm), and my love of film extends from the totally inaccessibly obtuse end of the spectrum to the embarrassingly superficial - I'll watch almost anything (I have my limits; I'd rather grate my face than watch The Hangover: whatever its subtitle is). Jimmy and I decided to write down every movie we watched a couple of years ago (nerd alert! nerd alert!) and ended up well above a hundred (and that was on top of watching entire series' of now finished tv shows, and keeping up with our favourite new ones. And that was before I was a bum and a hermit).

Why am I telling you this? Because yesterday, the programme for the Auckland instalment of the New Zealand International Film Festival came out, and because my friend Tia is awesome (and possibly because my whining has adverse effects on her), two copies arrived at my little house today. What is between those covers is almost all I can concentrate on today; even typing this is killing me a bit, as I've had only the briefest flick-through, and this year will require the most careful planning yet, as I'll only be in Auckland for part of it. You already know I love Christmas. You know the song The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year? I sing that twice a year (making the sentiment a little redundant, but I have a lot of enthusiasm to spread around); at Christmas, and in the second half of July, when the film festival hits town. All of a sudden daytime movie going is considered cultured and not self-indulgent, and seeing more than one movie in a day is fandom and not loserdom, and choosing a movie is hard because there are so many great ones and not because everything has Bradley Cooper in it. All of a sudden, there are wonderful movies everywhere, and some of them are at the CIVIC. It's magic.

Here are trailers for two films that leapt out at me (and neither of which are playing when I'm there; so cruel is life). If you don't think you'll see the movie, do look up Charles Bradley's story; it will make you cry and cheer. Stand by for more (I already know there's a new Jim Jarmusch in there!), and a return to clothes (I promise).

quick hi

This is really just a place-holder; I'm behind schedule today having stayed in bed this morning to finish my book (which was great - if you're looking for something to read, may I recommend The Third Life of Grange Copeland by Alice Walker?) and then spent way too long drying my eyes and reading analyses of it on the internet, and we're meeting Tim, agent for what seems like every retail and office space in Dunedin, at three o'clock, to see what we can do with the empty shop we looked at back in April (which is in worse shape than a disused p lab). Wish me luck!

In the meantime, the weather has movies on my mind; I'm getting very excited with each new NZ International Film Festival announcement, and I just found out Noah Baumbach has a new movie! (which is out in the US but doesn't get here until August; must be coming by ship via every port in the world.) Anyway, if you're in Auckland and are tiring of the usual awful stuff on offer (how long can The Hangover go on?!), the Academy has this going on at the moment, and it looks pretty good. Till tomorrow, friends.

film inspiration: student exchange

Whether or not you remember Student Exchange (Mollie Miller) will probably depend on your vintage. Wikipedia tells me it was a made for tv movie that came out in 1987; I remember watching it on vhs at my cousins' house around 1989. I was too young to properly get the storyline then (watching it today was stressful; what about their early acceptances?! why can't Neil just TONE IT DOWN?!), but I distinctly remember Carol/Simone's wardrobe, and how completely amazing it was.

Fast-forward twenty-something years, and here I am, sick in bed, and still being blown away by both Carol's AND Neil's style. The hair! The hats! The super-wide belts! The colours! The hair! The scarves! THE HAIR! Why don't people wear fake plaits anymore? When did mouse stop being an acceptable main-character hair-colour? And when did fringe up become a crime?

As soon as I'm well again, I'm on the lookout for a pink bomber jacket, I'm stocking up on hair-spray, and I'm rethinking the removal of the shoulder-pads from the dresses I've bought for the shop. In the meantime, let us all enjoy these grainy screenshots I took (the version I watched hasn't been remastered; may it remain in its grainy 80s glory forever). DRESS FOR SUCCESS!

three things

1. Instead of working on my business plan, I've spent the morning finishing my book, The Book Thief (many tears have been shed today). My subsequent (and lighter) train of thought has led me to Shoshanna Dreyfus from Inglourious Basterds, and how much I loved her style. Not only her clothes; but they were easiest to emulate, so lots of woollen jerseys and '40s trousers have since made their way into my wardrobe. I'll probably wear a combination of them today (with two of the former; Dunedin is FREEZING).

2. Dogtown Inc (that's not an official name; I made it up just now), aka me and Jimmy, are playing our first Dunedin dj set on Thursday at Mou Very. I don't know what time yet, and I don't know exactly what we'll be playing, but whatever it is there'll be some Bowie in there somewhere, because every day is a good day for Bowie. (Should there be prizes for identifying bastardised quotes? Too cheesy? I can't tell; I'm a bit cheesy myself. And I'm in prize mode; I won a picture book last week - Duck, Death and the Tulip - which couldn't have been more exciting if I was only six. NB Omission of Oxford comma is not my own. I LOVE Oxford commas.)

I don't think any of you are from Dunedin, so - Mou Very is described by Lonely Planet, and another website I've already forgotten, as one of the world's smallest bars, and we like it a lot. They used to sell Emerson's beer (which we like) until it was sold to Lion, when they replaced it with an independent's, Invercargill Brewery's (which we also like), and we like that a lot. In short, there is a lot to like about Mou Very.

3. Since I was talking about them on Friday, and I have some NZMM making up to do.